Moose-Napped
by Lady Lanera
Summary: Sam decides to figure out his feelings once and for all about a certain sandy-haired archangel. Only, he's a Winchester, and it never goes that easy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello again. Sorry about the delay. I meant to post this ages ago, but things happened that prevented it until now. I'm still working on this fic, so be forewarned that it will be updated as regularly as I can whenever I can. That said, I've currently got the first three chapters finished. I'm not sure how long this will end up being, but my plan is to wrap up all the loose threads I have out there hanging in the wind from the other fics in the series. :) There is some background Destiel, but this is first and foremost an eventual Sabriel. Just don't tell Sam. He's still in denial about this whole thing. ;) As always, enjoy.

**Moose-Napped**

Biting back yet another yawn, the tall, long-haired Hunter flopped over onto his side in his warm bed, blanketed in absolute darkness save for the strip of light from his door. He had been trying to sleep for an hour with no success. Though, considering what his dreams consisted of lately, he supposed that should have been considered a blessing. But it wasn't. He was exhausted, mentally and most definitely physically.

At the sound of light footsteps passing outside of his door yet again, he groaned inwardly, turning over to have his back to it. That had to be the tenth time Gabe had walked past that night. Admittedly, though, he didn't actually know if it was the mischievous archangel or not. He just assumed it was. And nine times out of ten, he was probably right.

Except this time.

"Breathe, Cassie. Just breathe," murmured a low, familiar British voice followed by more sounds of footsteps against the tiled floor. They were more shuffled sounding this time for some reason.

Sam slowly rolled back to his door, pausing in confusion. What on Earth was going on out there? Why was Balthazar telling Cas to breathe?

"Let's get him—" Ah. There was Gabe.

The youngest Winchester brother rolled his hazel eyes and scoffed. It never failed.

"Should I wake Dean?" Balthazar asked quietly.

"And tell him what exactly?" muttered the older angelic brother. "That we broke his boyfriend?"

What?! Sam quickly sat up at that with wide eyes. What the hell did those two do now?

"He's not broken," fiercely disputed the blond hedonistic-loving angel.

"Oh for the love of Dad. I didn't mean it like that, and you damn well know it." The sandy-haired trickster actually sounded rather annoyed for some reason. "I merely meant our little brother is freakin' hyperventilating." Oh. So that was what was going on then. Why was Cas so upset, though? What had they done?

"Which was so not my—"

"It was both our faults. Got it? So, we're going to fix this before Dean finds out. Right?"

The thin, ghostly smile that Sam usually did his best to suppress appeared again. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear the archangel was afraid of the eldest Winchester. Well, he should be.

"Come on, kiddo." Gabe's voice lowered into a tender, brotherly manner. "Let's go to my room and watch some of the good stuff."

"Not Westerns," begged the former angel weakly from outside of Sam's door. "Please, Brother. Anything but those."

Sam instantly bit the side of his hand to keep from laughing. Poor Cas. He could only imagine how many Westerns Dean had forced the poor man to watch over the years.

The older heavenly brother chuckled lightly. "You got it, bucko. No Westerns. Promise. I wouldn't want to step on your boy toy's toes over that one."

Snorting, Sam rolled his eyes. Yeah, he was fairly certain that wasn't why Cas didn't want to watch Westerns here exactly.

The Hunter watched the shadows under the door move away and listened to their departing steps. A moment later, he heard the adjacent room's door close. With another quiet laugh, he shook his head. Those three were definite troublemakers, namely Balthazar and Gabriel that was. Cas was usually good. Unless he was around his brothers . . . or Dean, then all bets were off.

As Sam buried his head further into his pillow, he inhaled deeply, letting his eyes close. Maybe now with Gabe and the others distracted, he could finally sleep.

* * *

He woke, if one could call it that in a dream world, in a bed a hundred times more comfortable than his own. He stretched out lazily as more of his dream world appeared. Was this mattress made from clouds? It was so soft, yet surprisingly supportive. It was absolutely heavenly. Oh, and were these satin sheets he was on? Even his pajamas were amazing. Damn, he could definitely get used to this. Everything was absolutely perfect, the best dream he had ever had.

His foot then bumped into something warm and firm a moment later. And just like that, he reared back, practically shooting up off the bed like a cat sprayed with water.

An amused snort echoed around the simple-yet-elegant bedroom in response.

And then came the words.

"Oh, my beautiful Sam-moose."

Almost instantly, the long-haired man screamed himself awake, the real world slamming back with a vengeance. Gone were the satin sheets, the mattress made from clouds, and the amazing pajamas. In its place were cotton sheets that needed to be washed weeks ago, lumpy mattress that had a few springs popping through already, and his worn grey v-neck t-shirt and fading black pajama bottoms. His chest heaved while his heart raced.

What the actual fuck?!

He ran his hands over his face, gasping to get himself back under control.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his breathing and groaned. It was just a stupid dream. That was it. Just a stupid, meaningless dream.

So what if that had been his 76th dream since Gabriel's return from the Empty? Didn't mean anything. At all. How could it? He didn't like Gabe like that. At all.

He enjoyed the archangel's company, sure, but that was it. And he may have found the man a bit amusing sometimes too. And he may miss the Trickster every now and then whenever the man was away from the bunker, rare that it was, or when Sam was away himself. Still didn't mean anything.

And yet, he knew it did mean something, though. Deep down. He had always known that there was something there.

But he brushed it off naturally. Whatever this was had to be a result of witnessing the eleven-year Dean and Cas show. All the intense longing of one another, all the eye-fucking moments, the banter, the self-sacrificing for the other all the damn time over the past eleven long years. Right?

It had to be because he felt, _what_, jealous of his brother and Cas. Not because he had secretly developed some sort of weird crush on the sarcastic, mischievous, amber-eyed asshole with wings who drove Sam up every fucking wall all the time. Right?

His groan echoed loudly about his darkened room.

At least half of his silly dreams had to do with those stunning golden wings of Gabe's. Always tucked away into the Ethereal Plane, hidden from him. Only once Gabe had allowed him to see the beautiful appendages, which was what made the dreams that more vivid, that more real.

Hazel eyes rolled hard upwards at the ceiling.

"Damn it," he grumbled, shaking his head. He brought his arm up and glanced at his watch, sighing when he saw that it was just a little past four in the morning. "Awesome." He sighed again, tossing aside his blankets before he rolled out of bed. It had been years since his last self-imposed Winchester Four, but he knew the dreams weren't going to get any better unfortunately. In fact, he knew from experience that they usually just got worse through the night.

As he walked past the mirror, he glanced at his reflection and sighed heavily. He looked like shit. Worse than he had ever looked after the whole mental wall collapse and the trials. He grabbed a towel and wiped away the sweat, sighing inwardly. Tossing aside the towel soon after, he then ran his hands through his long hair to brush it back and shook his head, silently walking out of his room a moment later. Whatever. It wasn't like anyone else would be up.

He walked through the empty corridors, passing Gabe's room and then the room Balthazar had chosen. Both of their rooms were silent with the doors closed. He considered for a brief moment if he should be worried by the silence emanating from their rooms, but he quickly decided that it was too damn early to start that already. He then found himself moving past his brother's room, hearing only the sounds of his brother's loud snoring. All was right there. He continued on, turning the corner and headed inside the kitchen. When he caught a familiar messy-haired man sitting at the table with an opened laptop reading something intensely, he paused in the entryway.

"Uh, Cas?"

Dull blue eyes glanced up from the screen to look at him.

"Hello, Sam," quietly replied the clearly exhausted former angel. He was wearing Dean's gray dead guy's robe over his loose black shirt and grey sweatpants. He sighed heavily before he returned his attention back to the laptop.

That was never a good sign.

"Everything all right?" Sam asked, glancing around the room hesitantly.

"Yes" was the pitiful reply.

The tall Hunter nodded slowly before he headed for the fridge. A part of him knew he shouldn't pry as it was obvious the former angel was working through something. Another part of him knew Dean would have his hide if he found out Sam had just walked away and ignored the poor man. He poured himself a glass of orange juice before he walked over to join Cas at the table. His eyes briefly narrowed on the empty tumbler beside the laptop. That wasn't Cas's usual glass. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn Cas had been doing a Dean and sitting there drinking his problems away. But that was absurd he knew. Cas was more level-headed than that.

"So, what's got you up so early this morning?" Sam asked gently before taking a sip of his juice.

The former angel's shoulders sagged, and his eyes remained on whatever he was reading.

Ah. Maybe getting his brother would be the better option here after all. Dean always could reach Cas whenever he was in these moods better than Sam ever could. Profound bonds and all that.

"You want me to leave you alone, don't you?" stated the younger Winchester.

That got a reaction. The deep blues instantly darted up over the screen and met Sam's.

"No."

Okay, it was a start, he supposed. He gave the withdrawn, exhausted man a kind smile.

"All right. How about I tell you why I'm up and we go from there? Sound like a deal?"

Cas snorted unamused. "Hardly. You can't sleep because of nightmares you experienced."

Sam winced, rubbing at the back of his neck. Was he really that much of an open book? That didn't bode well.

"Yeah, guilty as charged," he admitted with a sigh and shrug. He knew the former angel appreciated honesty the most, so that was what he was going to do. And if that led to Cas later explaining what was going on, well, then that'd be just fine with him too. "What about you?" He tried to meet the man's eyes. "Did you have a bad dream too?"

Cas glanced away instantly and pinched his lips tightly together in annoyance.

Normally, this was where Sam would get up and leave the person in peace. However, he knew from experience with the dark-haired former Seraph that he just had to be patient and wait. Eventually, the former angel would talk. He just needed time to work through things to figure out how to word it.

"One would have to sleep first before that could occur," quietly answered the brooding angel.

Sam blinked, his head rearing back slightly in surprise. "You haven't slept yet?"

"No."

Oh, that wasn't good. He wondered if Dean knew Cas was having trouble sleeping. The odds likely were no, unfortunately, since Sam knew his brother had gone to bed around eight. At the time, Cas had followed, but the long-haired Hunter knew from earlier that the former angel had been out with his brothers around midnight for some reason and suffered from some sort of panic attack.

"Cas, what's going on?"

"It's fine." The tone was vague and detached and so very unlike the angel.

All of the warning bells went off in the taller Hunter's mind at once. Not sleeping. Looking utterly miserable. Isolating himself from Dean. Suffering a panic attack earlier. Hell, even the hesitant replies. He considered praying to Gabe to come in here to help, but he decided against it. He just had to approach this gradually like how one would with a small child. He could do this. No one had the patience he had after all. He would just take it slowly.

"All right. Can you tell me when the last time was you tried to sleep then?"

The man's shoulders slumped suddenly in absolute surrender. He kept his eyes far from Sam's as if afraid the long-haired man could read his mind or something. Everything about his demeanor sent more alarms off. Something was obviously wrong. And Sam was definitely not liking the possible reasons his mind was offering.

"Monday," Cas finally whispered a few moments later.

The hazel eyes widened, as his breath caught in the back of his throat. Monday? Cas had last slept on freakin' Monday?! That was nearly a week ago! How the fuck hadn't any of them noticed? For that matter, how hadn't Dean noticed? They slept in the same bed together for Heaven's sake!

"How long?" God, Sam was terrified for that answer.

The glossy blue eyes dropped further, which Sam didn't know how that was possible, but they did. "Twenty minutes." The raven-haired man shrugged pathetically. "I think."

Sam's stomach dropped. Twenty minutes? That was it? That was all Cas had slept in a week? And here Sam was freaking out about possibly having feelings for Gabriel when Cas was clearly the one who needed someone to help, and none of them had noticed. He exhaled loudly and shook his head.

"Cas, look at me. Please." It took a few, but eventually he caught the dull, glassy azure. "Why aren't you sleeping?" The blue eyes darted away again. Sam sighed inwardly, leaning forward slightly. He just had to keep being patient. Cas would talk when he was ready. He just needed to keep trying. The man thankfully understood the love and concern behind his words. "Is it the noise thing again?" He could recall Dean saying something earlier about noise being a large issue for the former angel. It was something they were trying to work on. In fact, he thought Dean had mentioned something about offering to let Cas borrow his cassette player even to listen to some music before they tried to sleep. Sam had thought it was rather cute at the time, considering Dean likely didn't even realize how monumental of a step that was he was taking. "Or is it something else?"

The messy-haired man shrugged listlessly again. "Don't know."

Somehow Sam very much doubted that the former angel didn't know the reason. Cas was extremely intelligent. It was more like he just wasn't ready to share yet. Biting back a sigh, the taller hunter glanced at the laptop Cas was using, recognizing it immediately as being Dean's.

Okay then. He'd try a different tactic then. "Looking for a case for us?" Distractions usually worked. Sometimes at least they did.

Cas shook his head, though. "No. Dean wants to stay around the Bunker more for some reason."

The corner of the tall Hunter's lip trembled slightly as he desperately tried hold in his smirk. Yeah. Course his brother did. It wasn't just so Dean could fuss over his newly turned human boyfriend some more like he had been doing ever since Cas had his Grace removed. Now, could it?

"Ah." Sam nodded slowly. "So, what are you reading then?"

The blue eyes darted up in surprise again.

"What?"

"What are you reading then, Cas?" he repeated, barely holding back his knowing grin. He had caught the former angel clearly on something. Thankfully, the man didn't seem to want to run yet.

"When?"

Leaning back, Sam crossed his arms and snorted. Oh, yeah. He had definitely caught him on something. "Now."

"Oh." Blue eyes darted down to his screen hesitantly.

"Castiel?"

"Yes, Sam?"

The long-haired Hunter rolled his eyes. "You're about as obvious as your brother right now. You know that?" He shook his head with a gentle smile. Who would have thought Cas had elements of Gabe in him at times? They had always seemed polar opposites from one another. "What is it? Porn or something?" It wouldn't have been the first time the former angel had been caught viewing porn after all. He had once done it with Sam and Dean both in the room while the brothers were working a case. Ah, the good ol' pizza man memories. How Dean had bitched about that for months afterwards.

Cas winced slightly, keeping his face buried behind the laptop.

"Or something?" was the quiet murmur a few moments later.

Or something? Sam couldn't help it. He grabbed a hold of the edge and turned the laptop towards him. He noticed that Cas didn't even try to put up any sort of fight. His eyes widened the second he caught Dean's name in the middle of some large block of writing that also contained the words 'lubricant' and 'prostate' further down the page.

"Are you—is this—" Sam turned back to him. "Cas, are you reading fanfic?"

Of all the things he had thought he'd find the angel doing, this was not even on the list.

"I ran out of the Winchester Gospels to read," the former Seraph admitted with a sullen look. "So, Gabe showed me a site where I could read more."

Hazel eyes stared at the withdrawn man silently. He didn't know which part was more unsettling. That Gabe knew about fanfic or that Cas was reading said fanfic based on their lives?

"You realize this is about us, right?"

"Yes."

"That people who are fans of—"

"Yes, Sam," the man huffed, rolling his eyes. "I understand the basics of fanfiction."

"Why would you read this stuff?" It was . . . the things that people came up with . . . the scenarios . . . the smut . . .

"Because nine times out of ten, it's better than my father's work."

The words tumbled out instantly. "We are your father's work, Cas!"

"You know what I mean." He grabbed the laptop back, turning it away from Sam.

"How much of this crap have you read?" When the former angel said nothing, the long-haired man leaned forward again. Now he needed to know. "Cas?" He watched the man's Adam's apple bob extra slowly. Oh, that wasn't good. "Castiel?"

"Enough."

"Which means?"

"Which means enough, Sam. I've read _enough_." Blue eyes flicked back to the screen.

Sam stared at him for a few minutes, processing this horrifying news. Cas had been reading about them for how long exactly? And it was because he had run out of Chuck's Winchester Gospels to read? From what the tall hunter knew about fanfic, a lot of it was very, well, shippy.

"Which pairings?" He felt his heart lurch at his own question.

Cas rolled his eyes but didn't respond.

Sam couldn't let it go, though. He had to know.

"Is it just CasDean or . . .?" It'd only be natural to read about one's own pairing, he supposed. Not that Sam had ever looked up Sabriel fanfic. At all. On some random Friday night. With a beer—or four—in hand. In his room. In the early morning hours because he couldn't sleep yet again for some reason. Nope. Didn't happen. No matter what his browser history said. Or the amount of reviews he had given to one author in particular named Cas'sKickassLittleSister. The things that author wrote, it was as if the author knew their lives. While it had initially made him consider the possibility of Chuck writing under a new pseudonym, he quickly dismissed that as the writing was frankly too good to be Chuck's. It was real and raw and wasn't so drama-filled all the damn time.

"I finished my pairings on Wednesday, Sam," the former Seraph drawled, seemingly bored by the question. "I've moved onto others now."

The question fell out before he could stop himself, "Like?"

Cas glanced at him for a second before he decided he'd reply. "Gabe had recommended a rather nice long Sabriel fic to me yesterday. I'm halfway through it now."

Hazel eyes blinked once then twice. Gabe had done _what_?

"Though, you're denser in real life than you are in fanfic I've learned."

Sam coughed, unsure of what even to say to that _lovely_ remark. Dense? Him? How? And since when did Cas start talking like this? Sassy, sure, but this was . . . snotty maybe? Brutally honest to the point of bordering on unsettling even?

"Not to mention, if this fanfic were real," Cas continued, his attention focused entirely on the laptop, "you'd have been honest with yourself long ago and realized your feelings for my brother have nothing to do with your brother and me at all. We don't even factor into the equation. Nor should we."

Sam instantly sat up even straighter. His feelings for whom now? He and Cas had talked about it before, sure, with Sam admitting he enjoyed talking with Gabe every now and then. But nowhere in that talk did he admit that he, you know, liked Gabe more than a friend. Had he? He searched his memories.

The former angel then huffed a mirthless laugh. "But, of course, naturally I'm the one who's in the wrong here for pointing this out to you because I'm typically the villain in these stories sometimes. People love pitting us against one another. Though, I haven't figured out why yet. Likely to add drama to it or add another level of depth. Actually, I did read one that used us fighting as a way to have us in a relationship later—it's called Sastiel—our ship, I mean. I enjoyed the elements that it brought to it, but I much prefer being shipped with Dean as I'm sure you can imagine."

For a brief second, hazel eyes glanced at the entryway to the dorms, debating still if he should call for his brother. Something seriously was not right with the former angel. How much fanfic had the man consumed exactly? However, shock kept Sam rooted to his seat.

Cas sighed heavily then. "Then there's the whole stuff going through your mind right now. Like was Gabe brought back solely for me to recapture the family dynamic of angels?"

Sam's eyes widened as his head snapped back, his mouth dropping to the floor. This was like something Cas'sKickassLittleSister would have written.

"Or was it for you since you've always wanted to have that white-picket family life—someone to love and who would love you just as fiercely—a normal apple pie life in your brother's own words." Seemingly oblivious to Sam's reaction, Cas shrugged, moving his finger lazily over his touchpad to advance the page he was on. "Who knows really?"

"Cas . . ." Sam found his voice cutting out as he stared in utter disbelief.

"Well, my father, I suppose," the former angel scoffed, "but I doubt he cares anymore really."

The long-haired Hunter had long ago gotten used to Cas's bluntness. He really had. This, however—this was so many levels of strange and bizarre that he didn't know where to start. Had there been something in one of the fanfics, some hidden spell or something, to cause this? Or was Cas's peculiar behavior now a result of the former angel's extreme exhaustion? Never had the hunter seen the angel this unglued, this whatever it was, before in all their years together. And he had even seen the man plastered drunk before.

"After all, he's done nothing to stop Dean and I lately, which is rather refreshing considering all the other crap he's put us through already," rambled the former angel, his voice mumbling every now and then. "Maybe he's finally giving Destiel a chance."

"Cas . . ."

Sam's eyes narrowed. More of Cas's words slurred together, making it harder to understand him. Was this a stroke then? Though, Cas didn't seem to be in any pain at all. He did look like shit, though. Dark circles around his eyes were glaringly obvious. As well as the dull, glassy look to the usually deeply electric blues. How had none of them noticed? None of them?

"I'll admit. The banter's my favorite part. It's so light and jovial," Cas continued. "We need that in our lives. Humor instead of all the never-ending drama all the damn time," murmured the newly turned human with a low sigh. "I want to escape our lives. Not relive it." He then sighed heavily, his head falling forward slightly. "Like, take this fic, for example." Cas's eyes glanced over the top of the laptop as his hand waved erratically, knocking over the empty glass that had been on the table beside him. "Sam can't sleep because—I actually don't remember—but he's been dreaming about Gabe for weeks now. And he's happy with them because he gets to try out new fantasies and—"

Sam's mouth dropped. This was what Cas was reading? What honestly was fucking happening here? Was this a Djinn dream or something? Lucifer maybe? The tall Hunter pressed firmly against his left palm like he used to, wincing when he felt the brief flicker of pain. Yep. Not a dream. This was real.

"Dean naturally figures it out. Because of course he does. And it causes some humor between the boys. But for once Sam isn't being an idiot and wondering about the why. He's just enjoying it."

The deep blues finally focused sharply, losing its earlier sleepy edge.

"Why can't you be more like fanfic Sam and be happy for once?"

If that wasn't a punch to the gut . . .

"Why must you two always have to suffer all the damn time and put others before yourselves?" Cas waved his hands more, seemingly barely noticing he had hit the laptop screen a few times. "You deserve happiness too, Sam. Not just everyone else. Not just your brother. You too." A smile then graced the man's chapped lips, his dull, glassy eyes shining tiredly as he glanced at something behind the hunter. "Brother!"

Sam whirled around, dreading which brother it was that Cas was yelling at.

"Cassie, what'd Gabriel say about sneaking off out here?" The British-sounding blond then paused. "Wait! Is that a laptop?" He sighed when Cas didn't answer. "Oh, how you have fallen."

"Balthazar—zazar." The overly exhausted man chuckled quietly, slapping the table loudly. He had moved onto the giggling phase of his exhaustion now, it appeared. "Did you know we're paired up quite a lot actually?" The blond angel ignored it, though, gently helping the blue-eyed man stagger to his feet. "It's true. Because you were the first to show your extreme loyalty to me. To point out that all of you were betraying me concerning the whole souls and opening Purgatory fiasco." Cas sighed loudly, his hand waving dramatically and nearly hitting his brother in the process. "And how'd I repay it?" He leaned all his weight on the angel. "I stabbed you." His face was inches from his brother's. "Et tú Bronte?"

"It's—never mind," Balthazar sighed heavily. He glanced towards Sam. "If you could not mention this to your brother, we'd appreciate it." He batted away Cas's hand when the man started swatting at something imaginary near his face. "We've been trying to get him to sleep, but someone here is being his usual charming self again and is being stubborn."

"Don't wanna," Cas slurred, his words running together.

Sam noticed Balthazar's sudden head tilt before the angel's steely grays darted to the table.

"Have you been drinking again?"

Sam's eyes then darted to the empty tumbler on its side on the table. He had thought it was weird when he first noticed the glass. Cas usually would either use a tall glass for his milk or water now. But he hadn't thought anything more on it. So, had the alcohol had a delayed reaction then on the angel? Wait. What did Balthazar mean 'again?' Had Cas been coming out here and drinking regularly then? Had this been another thing they had all failed to notice?

"Maybe a smidge," Cas answered with his fingers held together before he snickered loudly.

Balthazar groaned in response, his eyes sharply finding Sam's. "This is all your brother's fault."

The tall Hunter opened his mouth to ask how when he caught the figure stepping into the galley. All words quickly fled with his thoughts. Just when he thought this couldn't get any worse.

"What's all Dean-o's fault this time?" remarked Gabriel as he coolly strode into the room. He was wearing a pair of winged moose pajama bottoms and a loose t-shirt that said 'If found, return to Sam Winchester" with a current photo of Sam between the two lines of text.

"Cassie's been drinking again," stated Balthazar with a heavy sigh.

"A smidge, just a smidge," argued the former angel. "And it's called a nightwrap. All the humans do it."

Gabe rolled his eyes, pausing to glance at Sam who was still staring at him. "Hiya, Sammy. Like what you see?"

Sam instantly came back to himself then and huffed, glancing away. He couldn't help but notice the way his body had unfortunately reacted to Gabe's attention. He had to be confused. This was Gabe after all. Gabe—supreme winged dick—

"All right, kiddo," announced the archangel, having stepped away from Sam and over to his younger brothers. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Cas replied, tilting his head and nearly falling as his balance was severely impaired now.

"The bottle, brat. Where'd you put the bottle?"

"What bottle?"

Gabe snatched the empty tumbler from the table and held it up. "The one you poured whatever it was into this. Where is it?"

"Dunno." Cas shrugged again. "Did you lose a bottle, though? You should really take better care of your stuff, Gabriel."

The older angel laughed unamused, shaking his head. "All right. So it's going to be like that, is it?" He shrugged back. "Have it your way."

"What way?" Cas blinked, glancing from his brothers to Sam. "I don't understand."

Gabe's smile deepened. "Let's just wake Dean up then and see what he has to say about all this. Shall we, little brother? I'm sure he'll be very interested to know about your nighttime activities while he sleeps."

In a blink of an eye, Sam watched Cas wrench himself out of Balthazar's, nearly falling to the floor as a result, before he slammed into Gabe.

"NO!"

"Then tell me where the bottle is," Gabe repeated, enunciating each word.

The words flew out in a hurry. "In the garbage! With the others."

"Others?" Gabe snapped his fingers, which sent Balthazar instantly rushing over to the trash can.

Sam's eyes narrowed when he watched the blond pause at whatever he saw in it. Slowly, the younger angel turned back with a stunned look.

"What?"

"It's a bottle of tequila. Top shelf kind. But there are dozens mini-bar kinds in here as well."

"Oh, of course there is," drawled the archangel with a head shake. He turned back to Cas. "I should make you suffer that hangover, brat."

"Don't tell Dean. Please?" pleaded the blue-eyed man, his fingers curling into Gabe's shirt.

"Why not? I think he'd be very interested to learn you're turning yourself into an alcoholic."

"I can't sleep, though!" Cas complained.

"So instead you decide to spend half the night drinking and playing on a laptop?"

"It's what Dean did."

"Oh, yes, because Dean Winchester is the poster child of healthy coping mechanisms. Clearly!" Gabe huffed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Did you even try to sleep tonight?"

"Yes . . ." The voice was very small, though, and Cas's eyes were trained to the floor.

"Castiel."

"No." The former angel's shoulders sagged a moment later. "I waited until after you went back to your room and then came out here."

"Kiddo, you can't keep doing this." The sandy-haired archangel gently rested his hands on his little brother's shoulders to keep him steady. "It's not healthy!"

Sam looked on, swallowing back his frantic betraying heart that was trying to escape. How was this the same person as the man who was constantly making remarks like 'I'd do you' or other juvenile remarks all the time? When amber eyes suddenly caught the hazel, the taller man felt shook.

"Sam, could you wake your brother please?"

No Sam-moose. No Sam-ikins. No Sam-I-Am. Not even a Sam-anova. Just Sam.

"Gabriel, no!" Cas begged.

When Sam watched Gabe instantly grab a hold of his pleading blue-eyed brother's face with both hands, meeting the no doubt terrified eyes, he drew in a shaky breath. This wasn't the Gabriel he knew. Or was it? Maybe . . . but . . .

"Kiddo, this is for the best. Trust me. We've done enough lying and hiding. All of us." The archangel sighed quietly. "This time, we're going to take a page out of our late sister Elizial's book and be honest."

Late sister Elizial? Who was she, Sam wondered. He was fairly certain they hadn't run into her over the years. In fact, he could have been wrong, but he didn't recall ever hearing about her before. He watched on, noticing Gabe's gentleness. It reminded him of all the times Dean had done the same with him over the years. The protective, loving older brother caring for his younger, naïve counterpart.

"And we're going to deal with crap," Gabe continued "instead of letting it fester like we have been. So, yes, we are going to tell your boyfriend the truth. And, yes, kiddo, it's not going to be pleasant. It's going to be messy, and it's going to hurt. But we're a family, remember? And families stick together and fix things. No matter the cost."

All the air in Sam's lungs vanished. Holy hell. He had to get out of there. Now. Like two minutes past yesterday. He turned away and went to get his brother, his mind reeling.

How was that the same archangel he had—

He soon found himself in front of Room 11's closed door. He needed to get himself back together again or his brother would think something terrible happened. Which maybe it had on second thought. Inhaling slowly, he held it and then exhaled. He did this for a few more times before he knocked and opened the door. Here went nothing. Hopefully, his brother wouldn't shoot him in panic.

"Dean?"

He heard his brother's low groan followed by sounds of him rolling towards the door. He waited, glancing down when he saw his brother raise a hand up to shield his eyes from the harsh light of the hallway. He stepped inside to block more of the light for him.

"Cas?" Dean sounded half-asleep still but surprisingly was gentle in his tone. So much for the usual grumpy bear impression his older brother typically displayed.

"No. It's Sam," he answered back, feeling his insides twist and knot horribly. When his brother instantly sat up then, tossing off the covers with wide eyes, he felt his insides recoil.

"Where's Cas?" The gentleness had been replaced with fear as Dean rushed towards the door.

"Kitchen. But, Dean—" He grabbed his brother's arm to stop him.

"The fucking kitchen!" Dean scoffed, relaxing at once. "Why the hell are you waking me up for this, Sammy? Christ!" His brother growled, running a hand through his hair angrily. The sleepiness was gone but the irritation was not. "You made me think something happened to him! For fuck's sake, man, who cares if he's in the damn kitchen? He's probably making coffee or something." He turned back to his bed. "Seriously, that's not a new thing. He's been doing that all goddamn week now. You didn't have to wake me up for that."

"He's not sleeping," Sam quietly stated when his brother paused to take a breath in his rant.

"What?" Dean blinked in confusion.

"Cas hasn't been sleeping."

"What do you mean? He's been—" Dean's voice cut out sharply. "Sammy, what's going on?"

"I-I don't know." He didn't even know where to start actually, with Cas or himself actually. That was stupid. Cas. Cas took priority these days for Dean. He could wait for once. "Gabe's calling for a family meeting, though."

"A family meeting?" The green-eyed Winchester scoffed loudly. "Tell the dick he's part of the family one time, and he starts calling fucking meetings at goddamn four in the morning," he drawled. "Fine. Give me a minute to prepare myself for whatever fuckery the winged asshole wants now."

"Don't call him that," Sam snapped, surprising himself.

"What?" Dean stared at him for half a moment before he shook his head. "Fine." He reached for something, pausing when he noticed that the hook was empty. "What the hell? Where's my robe?" He then snorted. "Damn it, Cas." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Let your boyfriend wear it one time, and he fucking steals it for good. I should have known," he joked, throwing on a pair of sweatpants instead. "All right. Let's see what Cas got himself into this time. Shall we?"

A few moments later, Sam stopped halfway down the hallway, though, glancing at his brother who kept walking not noticing. No. He couldn't watch that. His brother and Gabe fighting. Not again. He needed to figure this out. All of it out. Swallowing back his apprehension, he made up his mind. A jog around the property would help clear things up hopefully. It'd be better than watching his brother and Gabe doing their whole usual alpha male thing at least.

"Sammy?" Dean finally realized that his brother was no longer beside him. The green eyes turned back to him questioningly. "You coming?"

"Yeah. I'll be there in a sec. Forgot something in my room."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll let your boyfriend Gabe know."

Sam minutely flinched but nodded jerkily. Yeah. It was just an ongoing joke between them. Dean didn't mean anything by it. He didn't know. He couldn't know. He turned back and slipped into his room. It'd take his brother a bit to realize that he wasn't going to be there thankfully. Whenever Cas was involved, especially in things like this, his brother was focused entirely on his angel and nothing else. Sam would use this to his advantage this time. He needed to figure this out. He had to.

A few minutes later, he was changed into his running attire. Just a quick jog. That was all he needed. A quick five-mile jog. Maybe ten. He'd have it figured out by then. And if not, he'd keep running until he did.

He reached for his phone on his dresser, hesitating briefly. Dean would call him then. Or track him. No. He'd leave it behind this time. If he needed anything or if he ran into any sort of trouble, he could always pray to . . . Balthazar. He'd pray to Balthazar. Less messy that way. Though, there was no guarantee the snarky blond would come.

"Ugh." He was wasting time. He walked down the hallway past the doors to the kitchen.

"Cas, what the hell, man?" Dean shouted.

"Dean!" cried back the former angel.

It was obviously going really well then. He silently rushed past, hoping no one noticed him.

"No! Why didn't you tell me it was this bad? Aren't we—"

"But you did it!"

"Yeah, because I'm the perfect example of—do you fucking hear yourself right now, man?"

"Hear, hear!" Gabe's voice filtered out.

"Shut up, asshole," Dean growled.

"You first, hypocrite," snarked back the archangel. "After all, he learned it from somewhere, and it sure as hell wasn't me, Winchester!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means—"

Sam instantly ran through the bunker and up the stairs, not caring anymore if anyone heard him leaving. He couldn't stand to be there one more moment.

* * *

Many minutes and miles later, Sam continued his run through the woods, dodging and weaving through the massive, foreboding trees. His calves ached, hell his whole body ached, but he pushed himself further. He wasn't any closer to figuring anything out unfortunately.

He liked talking with Gabriel. He'd freely admit that. And the archangel was nothing like his older brothers. He didn't see humanity as a problem to control, a threat that needed to be eliminated, or even a worthless piece of space. He was funny. Sometimes that was. And he saw Sam.

But there were times when the long-haired Hunter just wanted to shake the hell out of that cocky ass archangel. Why wouldn't he grow up? Hell, Sam had just seen that he could act like an adult, act responsible if he wanted to. So, why didn't he? Why did he always have to insist on being that sarcastic, childish dick all the damn time?

And yet Sam enjoyed that trait in the angel. He adored Gabe's little sexual innuendos. The hugely inappropriate remarks all the damn time. Hell, even the fucking shirts had grown on him.

Was it the attention that he liked? Was that all this was? Gabe certainly paid attention to him. He didn't see him as Sammy, Dean's little brother. He just saw him as Sam, his moose.

Slowing down suddenly, the tall man sighed heavily, pausing next to one of the trees and leaning against it. He let his head thump back against it and groaned. He didn't want Gabe to ever call anyone else moose or Sam—whatever creative iteration it was this time. That was their thing. Theirs!

Just like Cas and Dean's was eye-fucking.

His and Gabe's was—what—sexual harassment comments? Fuck, that was messed up if it was.

He snorted, rolling his head against the bark.

He couldn't fault Gabriel necessarily for it. While the archangel had started the whole banter thing, it wasn't as if Sam hadn't joined in at times. He had. Lots of times. It had turned into a silly game they would play to see which would blink first. And Sam had gotten so much better at not blinking first.

Existential crisis. That was what this was. It had to be. He liked Gabe. He knew that. But did he like Gabe as a friend or was it more? And if it was more, was it because of free will or was it him trying to be like his older brother and get himself an angel, a more powerful angel than Cas even? Some form of sibling rivalry and that? Or was it something else entirely? Chuck's flawed writing again?

Closing his eyes, Sam breathed in deeply. The sweet smells of nature filled his nostrils instantly. Everything was earthy. Like Gabe smelled sometimes. Dean had always said—and Sam would agree occasionally—that Cas smelled like when it first started to rain. But Gabe—he smelled like earth somehow. Earth and junk food. Usually primarily junk food . . . and some types of candy.

All things unhealthy, and yet Sam, the health nut he was, couldn't get enough of it.

He pictured Gabe laughing. He didn't know why the archangel was laughing, and he honestly didn't care why either. The archangel was happy for some reason. His eyes were all lit up in that rich whiskey color Sam loved.

Wait. What? Loved?

His eyes flew open. Loved? Where had that come from? And since when was it loved? He felt his heart race and crash against his ribcage painfully. He was still wrapping his head around if he liked Gabe. Now, that particular L word came up?

Yet . . . hadn't he reacted—secretly of course—the same way Dean had after losing Cas a few years back? Sam hadn't slept for weeks after Gabe's sacrificial death in Apocalypse World. His brother, on the other hand, hadn't slept for months and drowned his sorrows in a bottle among other things.

He then heaved a loud sigh, shaking his head as he glanced upwards.

Why was he always comparing his relationships to his brother's? They weren't the same. At all. For instance, he never would have waited eleven years like Dean had.

Unexpectedly, a sharp and sudden pain sent his hand slapping hard against his neck. Something was protruding from his skin now. With narrowed eyes, he gently grabbed a hold of whatever it was and yanked. His brows furrowed at the slim, silvery feather-like object he had removed.

"What the heeelll?" His tongue swiftly became leathery, as his vision blurred slightly. The birds that had peacefully chirped from their hiding spots quickly started to sound more like psychotic cuckoo clocks going off all around him. He grabbed the tree he had been leaning against prior, slowly falling to his knees before he slammed hard against the merciless ground face first with a groan.

A soft, gentle, unfamiliar laugh echoed near his ear a moment later as someone knelt beside him.

"Sleep well, Sam. We'll talk more in the morning."


	2. Safe Space

**A/N:** Hello, lovely readers. So, I thought I'd post this for you today because why not? Hope you enjoy.

**Safe Space**

Several hours later, the tall Hunter woke in a sparsely decorated bedroom. He glanced around, half-expecting to find himself hanging from a rafter or tied to a chair. Something. Yet he woke to find himself in a warm bed instead. His clothes had been changed into random comfy sleepwear, and someone had settled blankets around him as if to ensure he would stay warm while he slept. Someone had taken great care of him in other words. He frowned inwardly and slowly sat up, stunned to find no bars on the windows. The door to the bedroom was even wide open. His kidnapper didn't seem to think he'd try to escape for some reason. He blinked at this, wondering why. Only his questions vanished when he saw the nightstand beside him.

Beside the bed were his clothes, neatly folded with Ruby's knife and his gun resting atop of the pile. There was next to that even a pair of blue jeans neatly folded and a red-and-gold flannel shirt. Of all the times he had been kidnapped, this definitely was the strangest one to date yet. He pressed the spot on his left hand and winced again, confirming this was real once more. No Djinn. No Lucifer. Maybe Chuck, though.

His eyes then closed as he breathed in deeply, centering himself in the best way he could while still being alert and ready for anything.

"Gabe—" he murmured quietly, hoping his prayer would reach the archangel.

"Are you just going to sit there, Sam, and contemplate life all day?" his kidnapper suddenly announced from a nearby room. "Or are you going to get dressed and join me out here?" The person didn't sound threatening, but he wasn't stupid. "Because if you're waiting for someone to rescue you, don't. I'll return you to the bunker once we've had a chat."

So, his kidnapper knew about the bunker, knew his name even. That meant the person was familiar with him somehow. He briefly considered Ruby as his kidnapper's identity but dismissed it quickly. The person wasn't flirting with him or playing really at all. The tone was dry but business-like. He tossed aside the covers a moment later and sighed inwardly. He needed more information unfortunately in order to formulate a plan.

"So, what are you?" he called out, quickly reaching for his clothes. "Angel? Demon? Vampire?" He paused as his hand hovered over his running shorts and t-shirt. "Werewolf?" His fingers curled around the second set of clothes, ultimately deciding on them. If it came down to him running through the woods, jeans and flannel usually were always the better bet. "Human?" He kept his eyes trained on the doorway just in case his kidnapper decided to surprise him again as he changed. "Something in between?"

"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? What am I?" A gentle, kind laugh filtered in quietly. "But what I am is of no importance really in the scope of things. The actual question you should be asking yourself here, Sam, is what I want with you."

He paused for a brief moment before he scoffed. "All right." He buttoned up the jeans that were surprisingly just his size and style. "I'll play along. Did my brother and I do something to one of your kind and now you want revenge?" That was usually the go-to reasoning behind these situations.

"Booooring. Next!"

He couldn't help but laugh silently at the reply. He would have expected hearing that sort of reply from Gabriel with how it was said.

"Not revenge then."

"Not revenge," the person confirmed. "Frankly, you and your brother typically don't concern me. So, you do your thing, and I do mine. Usually at least."

He considered this for a minute before he frowned. His curiosity was getting the better of him. "But something changed?"

"You could say that." Another laugh seeped into the room. "Are you almost finished in there? Your breakfast is getting cold, and you and I have a lot to discuss before the others realize you're missing. So quit dawdling in there already, will you?"

The corner of his lip trembled as he tried to suppress his smile. He couldn't explain it, but a part of him didn't feel threatened by this person. He honestly didn't have a single reason why, but he didn't feel like this person wanted to hurt him. That he could take their words at face value. On the off chance he was wrong, though, he grabbed his weapons, slipping Ruby's knife and his gun into their holsters.

"Afraid of my brother, are you?" he remarked lightly.

"No."

His eyes narrowed, hearing the underlying 'but' in the person's word. He headed out towards the voice a moment later, keeping his hand close to his holster just in case. There was a short corridor that led into a large open space that had a kitchen on the right and a living room on his left. He found his kidnapper a moment later, meeting her dark amused eyes instantly.

"Afraid of mine actually," the tall, dark-haired woman finished with a gentle laugh and quirked brow. Wearing a long black evening gown that hung asymmetrical off her left shoulder, she stood at the kitchen counter with a steaming pan in her hand. "Hello, Sam. Eggs?"

He shook his head with a forced chuckle. This was who had kidnapped him? He could hear his brother's teasing already. The woman was absolutely beautiful, stunning even.

Her long dark curls had been brushed back and thrown up into a messy bun. She looked like a model or definitely an actress of some kind. Her skin was flawless, no blemishes of any kind, and it glowed healthily with a base tan.

"Careful now," she teased, her deep red lips quirking upwards. "We wouldn't want your lusting after me to get back to a certain sweet-obsessed archangel. Now, would we?"

"Gabriel?" He blinked back to himself instantly. How did she know about—

She laughed quietly, though, walking with the pan towards a small table where she had set up breakfast. Her tall black boots clicked quietly against the hardwood floor.

"Unless you know of another who suffers from sugar addiction," she drawled. Setting the pan down shortly after, she motioned for him to join her. "Yes, Sam, Gabriel.

He reluctantly walked towards her a moment later. "So, you are an angel then?"

She snorted. "Gee. Whatever gave it away?" She then motioned towards the food. "Eat. And don't worry. It's not poisoned. I wouldn't kill Gabriel's intended. I'm not Lucifer after all."

Sam flinched slightly at her quip. He noticed her dark eyes instantly narrow on him.

"Which part of that bothered you exactly? The Lucifer comment or about Gabriel and his bond to you?" She watched him silently as he quietly sat down at the table. "Fine. Have it your way." She shrugged. "It's not like anyone can find you here anyway. Not even if you started to pray to them."

His eyes snapped up at her. She knew that he had tried to pray to Gabe? "Who are you?"

She scoffed again, shaking her head. "This again? Oh, you're a broken record." She met his gaze. "Who I am is of no value to this conversation. We're here because of you."

"Me?" He frowned and watched her for a moment. She still didn't give off any bad vibes. Then again, neither had Ruby. He sighed inwardly.

"You won't give it up, will you?" She rolled her eyes before she leaned forward, holding her palm up and out to him revealing a small bow-and-arrow tattoo. "Do you know what this signifies?"

He stared at the mark for a few moments, finally nodding slowly. "You're a Cherub."

"Precisely. And thank you for referring to my class and not saying that stupid 'cupid' term. I hate that word." She then pulled her hand back. "I was entrusted with the Novak line to ensure my brother could have his perfect vessel. And not to brag, but I was awesome at it." She smiled proudly. "Even after I succeeded and helped ensure Jimmy's birth, I continued watching, shepherding." She stared off dazedly with a gentle sigh. "I remember the day Jimmy and Amelia met. They were so in love with one another. I barely had to lift a finger for them. And then came Claire—oh that girl is so feisty . . . and stubborn too. I can't wait for the day I help her find her soulmate."

Sam blinked in surprise, hearing the tenderness in the woman's voice. She had kidnapped him, sure, but that was the only thing he could see that had been questionable about her. "If you—"

She groaned loudly, leaning back as she interrupted. "If they were my responsibility, why am I here now, you wonder, having taken you against your will? Yeah. I know." She scoffed with a head shake. "The Cherub in charge of the Winchester line got a little frustrated with you two idiots. Can't say I blamed my comrade. You two frustrated the hell out of me sometimes as well over the years."

Sam's eyes widened. "Wait. Are you saying—_you_ were responsible for getting my brother and Cas together then?"

Snorting loudly, she waved a hand dramatically. "Oh, only for the past eleven fucking years. But who was counting, right?" She shook her head. "I guess, actually, I should revise my earlier statement to you. You two did concern me, but only when it came to that particular mission. Between you and your brother, well, you two assholes didn't make it any easier. So, here we are, Sam."

He considered her words for a moment. If what she was saying was correct, then—_oh_. No. It couldn't be that, could it? "What happened to the angel in charge of our line?" After all, he could understand two cherubs working to get Dean's head out of his ass. No one was more stubborn than his big brother unfortunately. But that didn't mean—

She raised a brow and stared at him. "Do you honestly want to know?"

"Yes." Though, the way she had said that made him semi-regret it instantly.

"He was murdered," she replied bluntly, "which in turn caused Fate to ask me then to work my magic on you and Gabriel. Because there's the whole 'Winchester big plans' crap that's been going on since before you two were born. Not to mention, in all their minds, I'm somehow now considered a miracle worker with the patience of a saint, thanks to our brothers."

His mouth dropped.

"So, Sam," she stated with a pointed look "let's not have a repeat of our brothers' eleven years, shall we? Because, and I'll be totally honest with you, I've had it up to here with you Winchesters. I don't have another eleven years in me to waste. So, let's dive right in. Yeah?"

"You're here because . . ." His voice trailed off as his eyes fell to his empty plate. _Oh._

"Yep. Exactly." She then watched him sigh before he leaned forward and made himself a plate of food after his stomach had growled. "So, think of me as your love therapist, all right?" She gave him a wide smile. "What's the big issue here between you and Gabriel? What's stopping you exactly?"

He paused and glanced at her. "Would you believe me if I said I didn't know?"

"No. I think you do know. You just don't want to look in that dark closet."

Sam snorted as he was reminded of saying something similar earlier to Cas.

"Come on. Whatever you say here . . . safe space, all right? I know how you humans like that term. So, go on then. Trust me." She flashed him another smile. "Share your skeletons, your fears, your hopes and dreams. Lay it all out there for me, so I can figure out an attack plan."

He smiled back, shaking his head. "So, even Cherubs are warriors then?"

"Warriors of love, yes," she stated matter-of-factly, raising a challenging brow at him. "Love is stronger than hate. Which is what makes you humans so deadly sometimes." She then clapped her hands suddenly. "But we're not talking about me here, Sam. We're discussing you. So, nice try, but I'm non-distractible." She then wagged her finger at him. "Not to mention, sister to Gabriel here?" she stated, pointing at herself. "Oh, and Balthazar . . ." She waved her hand airily. "And Castiel. We're not even going to discuss the others. Though, Anael—I mean, _Jo_—is pretty cool. When she isn't so full of herself that is." She then scoffed, shaking her head. "It can't be done, Sam. So, moving on. What is it? A crisis of your masculinity? I can work with that. You just have to tell me."

"It's not that."

He had realized long ago there was more to being a man than for what team one played. Not to mention, he was the one who was always trying to get his brother to see that emotions, particularly feelings, were okay to express. There was more to being a man than stereotypes. And he had learned that from his brother way before he had ever gone to Stanford.

"Okay . . ." She motioned for him to continue. "Then it's what? Come on. Use your words. Those big SAT words. I can take it."

"I don't know what it is, though."

"Yes, you do! All you freaking humans do! However, because you're a stupid Winchester and Dad didn't want us interfering with you, I can't see what that reason is exactly. And it's frankly pissing me off. So, Sam, I'm going to list off a bunch of things then. You just have to answer yes or no. Okay?"

"But I don't know."

She pointed at him and glared. "Is it that he's an archangel?"

Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. Fine. He'd play her game for now while he devised a plan. Not that he actually felt like he was in danger here with her at all. She still felt like an old friend for some reason or at the very least an acquaintance. "No."

"Is it because he's in a male vessel?"

"No." Sam could see beyond Gabe's vessel and see the archangel's true self. Not literally of course, but figuratively.

"Good. Because I'd kick your ass if it was," she replied with a poorly hidden smirk. "All right then. Is it because of your brother?"

He opened his mouth to respond before he paused. Was this because of his brother? For so long, they had been inter-reliant on one another, sleeping practically on top of one another every night (or close to it), all in each other's business about everything. Hell, Gabe himself had pointed that out even. "Maybe?" He didn't like the way that sat inside him, though. "I don't know."

"Add that to the list to ask about later. Got it," she remarked with a gentle smile. "Is it because of Castiel then?"

"No."

He was sure of that. Cas, in fact, had been the one all for it, it seemed. Just like Sam had been president of the Team Destiel. He knew he didn't have anything to worry about with Cas. At least not about that. Maybe long ago when the two were still hesitant with one another, not quite trusting the other, but they had been through too much to ignore their friendship and history now.

"Is it because you're finding yourself worried about what happens during sex with a very powerful being older than yourself?"

Sam choked instantly, coughing as he stared at her. "What?" He hadn't even thought about sex with Gabe. Hell, he was still trying to figure out what he felt for the guy.

She frowned. "He's a being of massive amount of light and energy, Sam. You're a smart guy. And human. And humans are, by definition, stupid. They think these things."

"Yeah, definitely not that." But, fuck, was he thinking about it now.

"All right. Let's see here. Is it that you think you could never measure up to his expectations because you're merely a human and what could you possibly offer an archangel?"

He stared at her. Oh . . . there was a very large reason against ever considering this. What would he have to offer to Gabe exactly if they started a relationship? He was like an insignificant dust particle compared to the fierce immortal being who could create mindscapes with a snap of his fingers.

"I'll take that as a no then." She cleared her throat. "Glad to see you're smarter than your brother at least, Sam."

"What?"

Dean had honestly wondered that? It was like sometimes he didn't even know his brother.

"Moving on." She forced a smile. "Are you worried about creating a Nephilim?"

His mouth dropped as his mind rebooted. _What?_

"Because his vessel would be the one to alter, not yours in these types of situations. You know, for the record, in case you wanted to know how those particular things worked. Constant vigilance and all that jazz."

"What?!" He ignored the _Harry Potter_ reference as his mind reeled with this knowledge.

"Okay. That didn't occur to you. Didn't occur to your brother either actually."

He floundered for a moment, unable to think anything, as his mouth opened and closed rapidly.

"Wait. I got it!" She leaned towards him. "Is it because of your father's A+ Parenting skills? Because I could definitely bring John down here. You say the word, and I'll head upstairs and grab him. We could figure out what his thoughts would be exactly then so you can move on from it." She then paused. "But my understanding of him is now that he has your mother again up in Heaven, he just wants you boys happy. And he doesn't give a crap how that happens."

Somehow, he doubted it would be as easy as her sauntering into Heaven and kidnapping his father as she was making it out to be, but it was a moot point after all.

"Yeah, I stopped caring what my dad thought years ago." The words started flowing easier from his mouth for some reason. Maybe it was because she was a stranger. Maybe it was because she was a Cherub. He didn't know why, but he just kept answering.

"Good. Another way you're not like your brother." She tapped her lips as she thought for a moment. "What about this? Are you worried that my father, jackass that he is, will do something and take Gabriel from you again?"

He stared at her for a moment before he scratched the back of his neck. "Possibly." After all, he wouldn't put it past Chuck. The dick had shown that he didn't give a damn about any of his children.

"Okay. So, afraid of losing him. Not that I blame you there. He's died twice already. Well, technically once—whatever."

"But that's natural to worry about that, though," Sam stated, unable to keep the words inside.

"It is. We always worry about losing things we love." She leaned forward and patted his hand. "So, we got your brother, my deadbeat dad. I can work with that. What else?"

"He . . ." His mouth snapped shut instantly.

"Yes?" She then motioned around them. "Safe space, remember? No judgement. Trust me. I've heard it all."

"He confuses me."

"Join the club," she retorted. "But how so?"

Sam sighed heavily, glancing down at his half-eaten plate of food. He did need to figure this out, and he had said that he wanted to earlier. And she was willing to help him. So, what was the problem here exactly? It was always better to work something through with someone than to do it by one's self. Two heads and all that. And it wasn't like he could go to Cas this time, not with the former angel suffering from his own crap. And who better than a Cherub really to help with things concerning matters of the heart really?

"You know, I can't really hear your thoughts clearly all the time," she remarked dryly. "That takes energy, you see? And, well, currently trying to shield you from my brothers who are likely going to try and find you at some point, so . . . words would be nice, Sam. Yeah?"

He glanced at her and shook his head.

"How is it your brother can be a sarcastic, childish, pig-headed, stubborn, juvenile delinquent one moment, and then the next be sweet, kind, thoughtful, wonderful even—hell, the perfect big brother, the nicest guy, a fucking adult even?"

"Baffles the mind, doesn't it?" she drawled before she shrugged. "I don't know. Because we're not all black and white? Even angels can be gray at times." She shook her head. "And, you know, keep in mind this. He's been around your kind for so long. I'm sure he picked up some of your behaviors over the years. I know I have. I'm particularly fond of dark humor, sarcasm, and sass. But, then again, look at who my brothers and sister are. You'd have to have some of it in order not to be a robot all the time."

He noted the singular sister remark and filed it away for later. He needed to stay on task.

"You remember him from before, right?"

"Before what?" she replied with a quiet snort. "Before the Fall? Before Aunt Amara? Before Dad's temper tantrum? Before Lucifer was cast down? You have to be more specific here. I've lived a long life, Sam."

He glanced at her and frowned. "Wait. How old are you exactly?"

She raised a brow at him. "Okay, rude much?" She rolled her eyes soon after. "I'll forgive you, though, since you obviously were never taught not to ask a lady her age." She huffed, clearly insulted. "To answer your stupid question, I was created days before Dad went out for a pack of smokes and never came back."

"Uh . . . what?" Since when did angels . . .

"Hey, give me a little credit here, will you? I'm hip. I know all about that _Game of Thrones_ ending, which, for the record, was complete and utter bullshit." She waved her hand dismissively.

"You watched—"

"Again, Sam, not talking about me here. We're here for you. So, back on track here."

He sighed and shook his head. "But you do remember Gabriel?"

"Like I could ever forget my big brother," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "He's sort of unforgettable, you know?" She exhaled loudly. "But what are you wanting to know here exactly? If he was like that up in Heaven before he left?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Eloquent as usual, I see." She shrugged. "He was. He'd joke around with us young gens, but if we were doing something seriously stupid and dangerous, he'd put us in our place. He took—_takes_—his role seriously. But most of the time he was with Balthazar and Castiel, mostly Cas."

"That didn't jar you at all? His dual personalities?"

She tilted her head slightly, reminding him of Cas instantly. "What?" She scoffed. "He's not Jekyll and Hyde, Sam! They're not total opposites from one another. You have Gabe, and then you have Gabriel. Just like we have Cas, and then Castiel." She then waved her hand dramatically again. "My rebellious big brother, though, just enjoys being Cas more nowadays. You can blame your brother for that. I certainly do."

"But—"

"Oh, seriously, come on." She stood up and walked to the other side of the table. "Gabe and Gabriel are the same person. They are. He's got a funny side, and he's got a really serious side. He doesn't show it a lot. Because think about what he's lived through. He watched his older brothers fight. All the damn time. He watched Lucifer, someone he looked up to at times, be cast down to Hell by his other big brothers. He watched Raphael and Michael go for a power grab. And our dad—he skipped out of town abandoning all of us, basically telling us that we were boring and that he needed a new family. Yeah. I'd rely on humor too. Just so I wouldn't cry and think about how shitty it all was. Wouldn't you? Or are you going to lie and say that awesome Winchester line of 'It's fine?"

"But—"

She threw her hands up into the air. "Your brother even has two sides of the coin. You _have_ two sides. Everyone does. You can't honestly say this is your problem? Because this is a stupid problem."

"It's not just that, though!" he argued, disliking her disputes.

"Oh, thank Heavenly Host for that," she quipped. "What else, Sam?"

"Do I like him because Dean has Cas? Because I want my own angel? Is that what this is?"

She stared at him, blinking slowly, which caused him to continue unloading everything he had held back earlier.

"Is this some messed-up brotherly rivalry thing? Because that's not fair to Gabe. He deserves someone who loves and cherishes the hell out of him. I don't know if that's me, though. And it's driving me fucking insane. Because with all this crap going down with Chuck, I can't trust a damn thing. Like, was Lucifer the horrible angel Chuck made him out to be? Or was it solely because of the Mark of Cain and that whole crap? Even Michael—seeing him again—" His words stopped suddenly before he ran a hand through his long hair. "Yeah, I like it when your brother jokes with me, makes some stupid remark, but do I like it because I'm attracted to him or is it because he's paying attention to me?"

"Or is it because Dad's messing with your story, rewrites and all that?" she offered.

"Exactly! I can't be sure of anything anymore! My thoughts, my feelings, my—everything—it's all messed up in here. Like this . . . it's all too much."

"So, if, say, Dad killed Gabe, how would you react?"

"What?" Sam instantly sat up straighter, staring at her horrified.

"If Dad killed Gabe again, how would you react?" she repeated slowly.

"I'd be angry."

"And?"

"I'd miss him."

"And?"

"I don't know!"

"You do too know, you freaking idiot! Open the closet door and step out!"

"But I'm not in the closet!"

"Oh, you are so far deep in the closet that you're in the fucking basement, Sam!" she snarled, her eyes flashing for half a second with Grace. "You like my brother. You know how I know? I can see your fucking bond with him! It's weak, but it's there. You just are too damn scared to admit it. Whether that's because of your brother, my deadbeat dad, yours, Heaven, fucking Rick Astley, I don't know. You do! So, Sam, be a man and reach deep down in your fucking soul! If my father killed Gabe, how the hell would you react?"

"I wouldn't know what to do!" he shouted back, inhaling sharply when she clapped in response.

"Good," she beamed. "Now, we're getting somewhere."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Scenario number two, if Gabe moved on from you, got tired of waiting for you to pick up your balls so to speak, how irritated would you be?"

He reared back slightly with his mouth hung slightly open. He was not used to this crassness.

"Come on, Sam. Work with me here. We're finally getting somewhere. Think!"

"I-I don't know." She groaned loudly. "I'd want him to be happy!"

"Even if that wasn't with you?" she retorted, raising a brow of disbelief.

"I mean, I'd . . . maybe? I'm messy, though."

She tossed her head back with loud cackles almost instantly, slapping a hand against the table.

He watched her in utter confusion. He didn't see why that was funny. He was. He was full of so many underlying issues, complexes that—

"You are a fucking idiot! I-I don't even—oh Dad . . . like . . . _Sam_!" Her eyes reopened before she met his look. "You don't think my brother's a mess? At all? Like, he's perfect and crap? All the time? That he has no issues, none? Seriously?" She snorted. "Wow! I want your drugs."

"I don't think he's perfect!" he argued.

"Well, miracles do happen. What do you know?" she retorted. "My brother has been seeking one thing his entire life, Sam. One!"

"I know he has! And that's what makes this so damn hard!"

"No. What makes this so damn hard is that you're being stupid about this whole thing. You like him. I don't know how to make that clearer to you. Maybe a tattoo? I don't know. But you like him. He absolutely adores you. Hell, I'm sure he'd do the same thing as Cas has and give up his Grace for you in a heartbeat if you asked. Fuck, he'd even give up his damn sweets for you, Sam. And trust me. Gabe—he wouldn't do that for just anyone. He's being extremely patient with you, giving you all the time you need to figure this out. Something he's never done in his entire life before. You know that? He's used to taking. Snapping his fingers and conjuring up anything to make himself happy—whether that was women, dogs, cake, pie, candy, you name it. Not giving a whole lot in return—in other words not putting a lot of effort into things. But you're worth every bit of that in his eyes."

Sam opened his mouth, only to close it a moment later. He couldn't argue with what he knew was unfortunately true. Gabe was doing all that.

"So, the question we now find ourselves asking is this. Have you been putting in the same effort? Honestly, no you haven't. Nowhere close to it. In fact," she leaned forward "other than the whole flirting back with him the other day with the whole let Cas know about how Gabe helped create him crap, you haven't done shit, Winchester. But don't lament. There's hope for you. Take the snowball incident for instance. You two were mighty cute for that. When you let go of shit and let yourself enjoy the moment at least."

"You were there for that?"

She shook her head and sighed, letting her head fall forward. She then lifted her head back up a moment later with a groan and held out a hand. "Hi. I'm Roz, the Cherub in charge of making Sabriel a reality. I don't like stupid humans, and I really have no patience for idiots who frankly can't get their very long-locked and albeit gorgeous heads of their asses. I have one goal. Just one currently. Do you know what it is, Sam? Hmm?" She leaned closer. "To take this wonderful arrow here and ram it deep into your chest. So deep that there is no doubt in your mind. However, to do that, well, we need to get to a good place. Otherwise, we get Lord Voldemort, and I don't want anything to do with that no-nose freak. Got it?"

He stared at her before a laugh escaped. He covered his eyes and shook his head. Of all the lines, he never expected to hear that one from an angel.

"Yeah, I thought you'd appreciate that one. So, let's get to it." She cracked her knuckles loudly and cleared her throat.

"Roz?"

"Yes?" she sighed exasperatedly, rolling her dark eyes again hard to the heavens.

"What you're saying is you want me to be more like Fanfic Sam, right?"

She stared at him for a moment before she scratched her jaw and shrugged. "Well, do you think you can do that, Sam?"

"I can try," he replied, catching her gaze. He had read enough of Fanfic Sam lately to see the appeal. In the stories it always led to a moment of brevity before smut. Not that this would be the case this time. After all, real life was more complicated than that.

"It's a start, I suppose." She pinched her lips together and leaned back. "But what have we learned here today?"

"That you hate Winchesters."

"Oh, Sam," she laughed, shaking her head. "I don't hate you boys. You just drive me up the wall. So do my brothers. So, at least you're in good company there."

He snorted, grinning as he glanced away from her. He caught the pictures he hadn't noticed then before lining the counter. They were of Sam and Gabe with a few of Dean and Cas and Mary and John. "Are you going to ram your arrow deep in my chest now?" he remarked, turning back to her.

"No. I just needed you to get to this point. Where you'd stop fighting and start accepting."

"Yeah." He brushed back his hair and sighed. "I don't know if I'm—he deserves so much more than what I can give him, you know?" he stated quietly. "I mean, I get why you're here. You say that he and I have a bond of some sort. He told me that we did. But . . . I don't want to hurt him, Roz. Not when I know he's had so many others in his life who have."

"Hey, Sam?"

He met her eyes.

"You know what worked for your brother and Cas finally?"

"What?" He blinked in confusion. That was random.

"They talked. They sat down like responsible adults, and they talked it all out." She then shrugged lethargically. "Is my brother being an idiot now and not telling Dean that the reason he can't sleep is because he's terrified of the whole process, namely how he's afraid he'll fall asleep one night and wake up the following morning to find out all of it wasn't real? That he and Dean are still just friends? Yeah. He is. I still love him, but he's an idiot. All those boys are. They get it from Dad." She shrugged. "But, you see, Sam, they talked. You might want to do the same. You know? Sit Gabe down—doesn't have to be a candlelit dinner or anything, but he likes fish, mainly walleye or salmon—and talk with him. Tell him your fears, your worries. Let him know how you don't want to hurt him. That you think he deserves the world. Fucking be honest. He can handle it. Trust me. He's a big man despite his vessel's small stature. His wings can handle it."

"Gabe likes walleye?"

She rolled her eyes instantly. "That's what you got out of that?" She scoffed. "How you humans survived this long is just . . ." She held up a hand. "I can't even right now. I just can't."

He burst out laughing instantly. She seriously sounded like a teenager sometimes. How was this a fierce warrior of God? Though, he appreciated her levity she was bringing to the matter. Not to mention her non-judgment of him. That was refreshing and made all of this so much easier.

That said, she still did kidnap him so he couldn't entirely—

"Be gone, Sam." She flicked her wrist at him a moment later, and everything suddenly vanished.

**A/N: **I freely admit it. I love Roz. I really do. She's so spunky and fiery and fun to write. Course that's just me. What do I know? Oh, and if you're wondering if I left you with another loose thread that I have to tie up, have no fear. It will all be revealed soon enough. :)


	3. Sibling Rivalries

**A/N:** Oh, it's been a really long time since I updated. I sincerely apologize. Work has been an absolute madhouse because of Coronavirus and Covid-19. Sorry, all. It's still touch-and-go unfortunately at work for me, but whenever I get some free time, rest assured I'm working on this fic and if I'm not, it's because I'm de-stressing. That said, with everything going on in the world, I finally decided it was time to join Twitter. Yeah, I know. I'm waaaay late to the game on that, but I was late to SPN too and HP, so... yeah. My Twitter handle is at LadyLanera. I'll probably be posting snippets or teasers over there. You know, as proof I'm still around and working on this fic and others. :) And I'll be posting random thoughts, whatever else. I'm still new to the whole thing, so it's a work in progress. As always, I hope you enjoy.

**Sibling Rivalries**

For a brief moment, Sam felt weightless. Then came the tilt-a-whirl experience. And just when he thought it was finally over, it morphed into the feel of an aerotrim astronauts used sometimes. He spun every which way: up, down, backward, forward, left, right, under, over, this way, and that way. When it finally stopped and he found himself falling hard onto the unforgiving floor of the bunker's galley in front of Dean and their band of misfit angels, he couldn't stop himself. He knelt on all fours and groaned, desperately holding back the contents of his stomach.

"Uh, Sammy?" his brother murmured from the table where he sat beside Cas. "You good, man?"

Was he _good_? Did he _look_ fucking good?! He groaned, though, inhaling shakily as he felt another threatening lurch from his stomach. No. For now, he'd concentrate solely on making sure not to vomit. He'd tell his brother how much of an idiot he was being later. It could wait.

"I don't know, Dean," a thick British voice stated somewhere off to his left. Oh but of course _that_ asshole had to continue this idiocy. "He does not look well at all right now."

"Yeah. For once I agree with Balthazar on this," Gabe remarked quietly nearby. "Sam? Buddy? What happened?" His tone was light but held a concerned edge to it. "And, more importantly, how the hell did you just appear out of nowhere exactly? You're not an angel, remember, my dear moose?"

A soft, indescribable sound escaped the long-haired man's mouth then in response. Not quite a cry of pain but not a groan either.

"So, well, I guess what I'm asking here is who exactly did you piss off?" The lightness returned. "In other words, who do I need to beat up for this?" The easy smile was no doubt on Gabe's face.

"Roz," Sam moaned, drawing in yet another shaky breath. If the room could stop moving, that would be nice. Or tilting.

"Roz?" Gabe paused for a moment as if confused before he quickly knelt beside Sam, gently resting a hand on his back. The familiar warmth of his Grace seeped in soon after, pushing back the human's queasiness. "Who's Roz, Sam?"

Inhaling slowly, the tall Hunter turned his head fully to the sandy-haired man. Gabe's entire body radiated seriousness. "Your sister. She's the Cherub in charge of the Novak line." He caught the blank look in the amber eyes almost instantly, which caused his stomach to drop again. That was never good. How did Gabe not know her? Maybe he needed to explain more for it to come to the archangel. It did seem like Gabe was only close to a few angels after all. "She's now in charge of the Winchester lines too, and she wanted to speak with me."

"Oh." The man nodded slowly, still clearly not recognizing the name in the slightest.

Dean, however, miraculously was silent, Sam noticed out of the corner of his eye. What was that all about? His brother always was so overprotective in these instances but not this time for some reason.

"Oh come on!" Balthazar huffed then. "I'm a lover too. Why isn't she picking me to match?"

"Likely because you've already gone through half the population," Gabe remarked with a pointed look at the blond.

"Yes? Your point?" Balthazar replied.

"His point, idiot," spoke up a female from the doorway, "is that no Cherub in their right mind, least of all me, would match you. Ever."

All at once, the heavenly brothers' heads whipped towards the doorway.

"Roz?" they all exclaimed. "You're going by _Roz_?!"

"Hello, idiots." Her boots clicked against the floor near Sam as she approached. "And, yes, I am." She then sighed heavily. "Hello, Dean," she sighed heavily in a rather bored tone.

"Rozlyn," drawled his brother with a quiet chuckle. Wait. What? Dean knew her? Sam's head whipped to his older brother, noticing the relaxed, easygoing stance his older brother had adopted. What the hell? "You're looking particularly lovely today."

She snorted. "Oh, spare me your pathetic lines, Winchester. I've heard them all. Repeatedly."

Sam slowly lifted his eyes up to glance at her then. She was smiling down at Sam, looking rather proud of herself when their eyes met.

"You two have met?" asked the long-haired man through heavy breaths. Gabe's Grace had helped quite a bit, sure, but he still felt like he was on the tilt-awhirl every now and then.

"Yeah. We've met, Sammy," his brother remarked quietly. "She's been a pain in my ass for the past few years now."

Roz scoffed, glancing at her nails uninterested. "Is that all it was? Felt like a lifetime."

Sam noticed Cas's head tilt, wanting to state he seconded that confusion. Dean had been talking to this angel, Cas's sister, for a few years? And they were just _now _learning about her? His brother had hidden a lot of shitty things during their life, secrets compounded on top of more, but this took top prize. Why hadn't Dean said anything to anyone about this? Given Sam any kind of warning? Like a, 'Hey, Sammy. We have a Cherub assigned to us. Don't freak out. She's sort of cool, but definitely takes no shit from anyone.'

"Okay, that's it," Gabe announced suddenly. All eyes darted to him. "I have to ask." The sandy-haired archangel stared at his dark-haired sister. "Roz? Roz?! You're going by _Roz_ now?! Where the hell did you get that name? And why did you even change it in the first place?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Brother." She clearly wasn't. "Did I need to ask permission before I changed my name? Was that in a memo or something?" she drawled back mockingly. "No? That's what I thought." She then scoffed, rolling her eyes hard. "But if you must know, I got it from _Monsters, Inc, _a film I'm sure you've never watched considering the filth you usually enjoy."

"Wait. Are you saying—but she's _horrible_!" the sandy-haired archangel declared. "She's a nasty monster. Why on earth would you want to—No!" Gabe stomped his foot down. "No! I forbid it!"

The dark-haired angel raised a brow, crossing her arms in response. "You forbid it?" she repeated slowly, staring at him as if he had suddenly grown five heads.

"Yes. I strictly forbid it!" the older angelic brother replied, holding his index finger up. "As your big brother and the only remaining archangel—"

"Michael," Balthazar coughed loudly nearby.

"As theONLY good and sane archangel left," Gabriel reiterated firmly, glaring at his blond brother, "I forbid it!"

"Awe. That's cute," she replied derisively. "You think you can tell me what to do." She pressed a mocking hand to her chest. "Awe! But, Gabriel, oh, big brother of mine, you're not Dad. So, you know what?" Her tone quickly drew cold as her eyes narrowed into slits. "You can take your forbidding crap and shove it up your ass. Because I don't need your permission. I don't need anyone's to change _my_ name. And, you know what else?" She then shrugged. "I mean, hello, kettle. Do you still go by Gavriel?" She waited for half a moment before she continued. "Yeah, I didn't think so." She glanced around the room and then shrugged. "So, you know, screw you."

Sam caught Gabe's momentary stunned look and used that moment to push himself up off the floor slowly. Just when he thought this couldn't get more mind-blowing. She was certainly a fierce hurricane. He watched her a moment later walk towards the quiet, withdrawn former angel who was watching her closely from beside Dean at the table. Sam tensed in anticipation.

"Hello, Castiel," she murmured softly. She had spoken so tenderly, so lovingly to her blue-eyed brother. It was the complete opposite of how she had addressed Gabriel.

"Hello," the blue-eyed former angel responded just as gently as she had.

"You've been an idiot, I see. Almost reaching our dear brothers' levels of stupidity in fact." She tenderly pushed his chin back up when Cas glanced down remorsefully. "Though, I like the soul addition. It's a very pretty color on you. Reminds me of those gorgeous bluish-black wings of yours." She then turned to look at Dean for a moment before she smiled inwardly and glanced back at her brother. "So, let's keep that stunning dazzling soul of yours pure, yeah?"

"Not wanting to see paperwork on it come across your desk?" Cas replied with a sad chuckle.

"Exactly!" Her smile widened. "You always were smarter than these two."

"Hey!" Balthazar cried.

"Oh, hush over there, Tweedledee and Tweedledum," Roz drawled lazily, not bothering to look at either Gabe or Balthazar.

"Respect your elders, young lady," retorted the archangel with a huff.

"Know your place, old man!" she shot back with a scoff.

Gabe instantly bristled at that and stood rigid as if slapped. "Dad may have brought you into this world, but I can sure as hell snap you out of—"

She then pointed suddenly at Sam. "Oh, look! Sam's naked!"

Fully clothed, Sam blinked, catching Gabe's wide eyes quickly afterwards. Did he honestly—

"God, you're an idiot," Roz laughed.

"Don't take Dad's name in vain!" grumbled the sandy-haired older brother.

"Why? It's not like he's here, Gabriel!"

"Because I said so, Elizial!"

Oh. So that was her actual name. Wait . . . Sam had heard that name before. Hadn't he?

Two seconds later, the Hunter watched Balthazar shrink back suddenly while Cas instantly pulled Dean closer to him protectively. His eyes narrowed. He glanced at Gabe, finding nothing but annoyance in the angel's eyes. What was he missing? He then looked towards Roz and quickly understood why the others had moved back. He took a step back as well at the sight of the fierce look in the female angel's eyes. Oh, she was not happy!

"My name is Rozlyn now, Roz for short! Not that! Do you understand me, Brother?" Her Grace flared a deep fiery orange in her eyes as large silhouettes of tall powerful wings blanketed the room.

"Oh? We're going to play this game, are we?" huffed the archangel. He rolled his shoulders soon after, bringing his own silhouetted towering wings out to play. His eyes flashed with a deep glowing amber. "I'm more powerful than you are, Sister! Archangel, remember?"

"It's not the size of the wings that matter, Brother, but what you do with them," she replied dryly. "Or didn't Daddy dearest teach you that before he left?"

"You are really trying my patience right now, young lady!"

"What are you gonna do? Punish me?" she mocked. "Snap me into detention?"

Sam's eyes snapped to his brother's. This was not going to be good. Dean was motioning towards him, though, which made his eyes narrow. What the hell was Dean trying to say? He then gasped when Balthazar grabbed a hold of him and yanked him back suddenly.

"You know that volcanic paradise called Hawaii you humans are so fond of?" Balthazar remarked quietly. "With the daily eruptions and destruction that never ceases? Where lava eats and eats and eats more of it all the time?" The blond released him and took a step back. He then motioned at the glaring siblings. "Roz and Gabe."

Rearing back in shock, Sam stared at the angel. What? They did _that_?!

"Yeah." He sighed heavily.

"What about Death Valley?"

"Oh, that was—" Balthazar cleared his throat suddenly, realizing what he was about to reveal. "No one. That was no one, Sam," the blond answered, avoiding the hunter's eyes pointedly. "At least no one you can prove."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Why don't I believe you?"

"No idea. Deep seeded trust issues maybe?" Amused gray eyes returned his way. "You _are_ a Winchester, after all."

Sam forced a laugh, ducking when something unexpectedly went sailing through the air at them. He was grateful that the blond was able to deflect whatever it was from them. Wait! Was that a fork? He watched it tumble to the ground with a clink. Shaking his head, he glanced back at Gabe and Roz who were glaring murderously at one another. He looked beyond them then to Cas and Dean, noting Cas's pained look. This was likely the last thing the sullen angel needed right now.

"Look," Gabe stated a moment later, regaining Sam's attention. "I don't know where you got this sudden attitude from exactly, Little Sis, but I suggest you drop it! Now! It doesn't make you look cute or any garbage like that! It just makes you—"

"What? Like you?" she remarked with a self-satisfied smirk.

"_Excuse you?"_ the archangel scoffed, taking a step back from as if offended by her words. "I am nothing like this! I am—"

"Posturing for your boyfriend? Acting all tough and protective for him? Shaking those sexy golden feathers for him?"

The bunker suddenly shook violently. She had struck the right nerve it seemed.

"I am an archangel!" Gabriel snarled, full of fury. "You will damn well show me—"

"Yeah?" Her Grace flashed vibrantly back as her wings outstretched ominously. "How about you do your fucking job once in a while then and lead, Gabriel?" she threw back snidely. "You know? Instead of playing House down here with the humans all the time?"

"You don't—"

Stepping into his space almost immediately afterwards with not an ounce of fear registering, she stared down at her sandy-haired older brother. She was at least two inches taller than him by Sam's estimate. The raw power coming off both angels was startling.

"No," she stated coldly. "It's you who doesn't know a damn thing." She scoffed, shaking her head exasperatedly. "Do you know why I'm a Cherub now? Why I gave up being a Seraph?"

Sam's head immediately snapped to Cas. His sister had been the same class of angel as him?

"I don't know. Because you have issues with management maybe?" Gabe tossed back snottily.

"No. It's because there are so few left, smartass." She pushed on when the archangel scoffed. "And someone I love once said to me, 'Why should the humans suffer and not experience love and happiness because of our superiority complexes and egos?"

Gabe took another step back, his smile faltering slightly as his winged silhouettes lowered a bit before he announced, "So, I was right. You do have issues with—"

"You know what? Fine." She threw her hands up into the air. "I don't even know why I try with you. You always have to be right. Always."

Sam watched Gabe's eyes narrow briefly as some emotion briefly flickered across his face before it vanished again and was replaced with a more forced smile.

"Ha! I win again!" The angel clapped. But Sam noticed something he couldn't quite explain. He just knew that Gabe wasn't as happy about this as he was projecting.

"Goody for you."

Roz turned towards the tall Hunter and sighed. She paused for a moment as if wanting to say something to the human, but instead she turned away and headed for the door, her boots quietly clicking against the cement floor.

Sam turned towards the sandy-haired man and watched Gabe fight with himself for a moment. The closer she got to the door, the more Gabe's jaw clenched, as if he was desperately holding back his words. He considered helping the man out, but he ultimately decided against it. Gabriel had to do this on his own. She had just stepped into the hallway when the archangel finally gave in.

"Wait!" Gabe called out, glancing upwards at the ceiling and shaking his head. "Don't go."

"We have nothing more to say to one another, Brother," she replied, stopped in the entryway with her back to them.

"Oh, I can think of plenty of things we can still say to one another, Sister," he retorted glumly. "But . . . I'll be the bigger angel here and say sorry first. I'm sorry, _Roz_."

She slowly turned back, her eyes flicking over to Sam before returning to her brother. "I'm afraid I didn't catch that. What was that now?"

"I said I'm sorry."

She cupped a hand to her ear. "You're _what_?"

"Oh, really? Just take the damn apology, will you?" he grumbled.

"I don't know if I can. I mean, it might be similar to, you know, opening the Gates of Hell or something," she quipped.

"Hilarious."

"Glad you find opening the Gates amusing, Brother," she deadpanned, which caused Gabe to groan and roll his eyes again. "Because I don't."

"You're really annoying. You know that, right?"

She finally cracked a genuine smile again, her eyes returning to their rich, warm mahogany and her wings returning to the Ethereal plane.

"Thank you. I learned it from my big, dumb brothers."

Gabe snorted a laugh.

"Sister, must you always call us names?" Balthazar sighed loudly.

"Why? Does it hurt your feelings, Balthy?" she quipped, glancing at the blond.

Sam watched him glare at her in response.

"If I said yes, would you bloody well stop?"

"No." She shrugged casually. "I'd just tell you to grow a pair."

"Grow a pair?" The blond scoffed. "My vessel's testicles are quite large, thank you. Hung like Northern Pacific Right Whale you might say. Want to see?" He moved to undo his belt.

"All right! That's it! I've heard enough!" Dean suddenly shouted over Balthazar. "Will all the non-humans please get the fuck out of here now? Otherwise, I'll be forced to send your feathery, annoying asses flying out of here to Timbuktu!"

Gabe rolled his eyes whereas Roz merely raised a brow. Balthazar didn't even seem to notice as he was still going on about the size of his vessel's genitalia, thankfully not lowering his tight jeans.

"You have to the count of three, Angels! One!"

Cas stood up, only to be yanked back down hard by Dean at his side.

Sam stifled his laugh instantly. Poor Cas.

"Two." The green-eyed Hunter pulled out his pocketknife meeting the challenging looks.

"You're going to have to draw that sigil really fast in order to make this work, you realize?"

"I've had to do it faster," Dean remarked dryly, pressing his blade against his palm. "So, try me."

"Promises, promises," Balthazar sung with a smug grin. "But, I believe, I do need to point out the obvious here." His grin widened. "We're family, Deanie Weanie!"

Gabe picked up from there. "And family don't end in—"

Sam blinked the second Roz, Gabe, and Balthazar suddenly vanished from the room in a familiar bright light. He glanced at Dean, who was also just as confused as he was. If it wasn't him and it wasn't Dean, then who—? Both brothers turned simultaneously to the other occupant, catching the bloody Angel banishing sigil drawn onto the tabletop in front of the blue-eyed, messy-haired man and the bloodied object that he had used. Cas's palm was still down flat atop of his crimson sigil before he slowly pulled it back and smeared the mark.

"Cas?"

"Yes?" murmured the dark-haired man tiredly, leaning his head against Dean's shoulder soon after. As if he hadn't just banished his siblings to who-knew-where by cutting his hand open with a fork.

When Dean didn't elaborate, Sam glanced back to his brother, taking note of the man's faint smile. The spiky-haired man was happy, truly content for once in a really long time. Biting back a sigh, Sam decided to leave them to their peaceful, adorable moment. It wouldn't last long, he knew. They'd be crazy if they didn't think Gabe and Balthazar would return. They were worse than fleas after all.

"Come on, Sunshine," Dean stated with a sigh, gaining Sam's attention again. "Let's wrap up that hand of yours and get you to bed."

"Dean . . ." Cas whined, legit whined.

Sam waited to see his brother's reaction, expecting the usual flicker of annoyance he always got. His eyes narrowed, though, when he saw Dean pull Cas in closer instead and murmur something he couldn't hear. It was obvious that it was something sweet and loving, though.

"You could have that, you know?"

The long-haired Hunter instantly whirled around at hearing the unexpected voice near his ear, ready to karate chop the person behind him. When the person grabbed his arm and easily stopped his momentum, though, he openly frowned.

"Roz."

"Sam," the dark-haired angel smirked back, releasing him shortly afterwards. She had returned quicker than her brothers. She then glanced back at Cas, who was being helped up by Dean. Neither his brother nor the former angel even seemed to have noticed her return. Though, their moments usually ended up like this. Eleven years had taught him that. "I mean it, though. You could have that as well."

The Hunter shook his head, though. Gabe couldn't be his—it was Gabe after all. Take away the false bravado, the sarcasm, the constant humor, hell, the candy even, and what did one get?

"Gabriel," Roz answered with a shrug. "You get my big, dumb brother Gabriel."

Sighing, Sam turned away from the couple, heading away towards his room instead. At the sound of Roz's boots clicking against the floor behind him, he bit back another groan. She was worse than her brother!

"Thank you," quipped the female angel with a wide grin, clearly having heard his thoughts. "My brother's kind of cool. Don't tell him, though. He'll get a big head again. And it was absolute murder the last time this happened."

Sam snorted, rolling his eyes. She definitely had Gabe's sense of humor.

A few moments later, he walked into his room, pausing in the doorway when he caught the sandy-haired archangel stretched out on top of his bed and staring up at the ceiling with a forlorn look on his face. The tall Hunter's head shook in confusion. What the hell was Gabe doing in his room?

"Gabriel! You did get my message!" Roz suddenly called out behind Sam. "Awesome!"

Sam whirled around to her at once. She was responsible for _this_?

"Now, I'm going to give you two boys some privacy," Roz remarked, grinning widely. "Some, mind you. Oh, and, Sam?"

"Yeah?" he groaned with a heavy sigh, feeling a headache coming on.

"Remember when you told Cas'sKickassLittleSister in a review that you wished Sam and Gabe could work out their shit once and for all with no interruptions. No Cas and Dean crap floating around, just pure Sabriel fluffy delight?"

His stomach dropped in complete horror. How the fuck—

"You're welcome!" The door slammed shut a second later before it vanished completely.

"What the hell?"

Gabe groaned loudly behind him. "I should never have taught you that," he muttered.

Sam whirled back around, his mouth opening and closing several times.

"Yeah. I know." The archangel shook his head. "One time I taught her that, just once. And look what she does. She uses it against me. I don't know whether to be proud or angry by this turn of events."

"She's Cas'sKickassLittleSister?" Sam squawked, finally finding words that had been screaming in his head at that revelation. He had been reading for weeks now fanfiction written by _their_ sister?!

"And mine . . . and Balthazar's. She just likes Cas better for some reason." Gabe crossed his arms and fake pouted a moment later. "When clearly _I'm_ the cooler one here than those two."

The tall Hunter nodded slowly prior to walking further into his room. Whatever Gabe said.

"So . . ."

This was awkward on so many levels right then. What was he supposed to say? 'Hi, this is crazy, but maybe I do like you?' Sam winced as he then heard that catchy pop song from a few years back start playing inside his head. Yeah. He definitely needed that right then.

"Yep." The archangel then sighed heavily, his head flopping back against Sam's headboard. "For the record, I'd snap out of here if I could." His head lulled slowly towards Sam. "But it seems like some brats, though, decided to trap me here somehow."

Sam swallowed slowly, reminded of a scene he had read from a fanfic a few days ago that was similar to this very moment. He knew whatever he was going to say that it couldn't be anything remotely close to "So, you're trapped in my bed?" That wouldn't lead to anything good.

"Um." He cleared his throat sharply, reluctantly meeting the inquisitive amber eyes watching him from his bed. "But I thought only Holy Oil—"

Gabe heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head lightly. "There are other ways, Sam."

"Oh." The Hunter nodded slowly. That made sense he supposed. It wasn't like they knew _everything_ about angels after all. Even though they had practically lived with one for eleven years. Unable to stop his curiosity from taking over again, the question rolled off his tongue. "Like what?"

Gabe snorted in response. His head rolled gradually back towards Sam with mischievous, twinkling eyes. "Like I'd tell you."

Sam forced himself nod jerkily and glanced away. Just because it was eerily similar to that particular scene in one of his favorite Cas'sKickassLittleSister's Sabriel fanfics, it didn't mean that was exactly what was happening here. Because it wasn't. It was just two dudes talking. That was all.

When he heard the bedsprings creak and pop a second later, he inhaled deeply and turned back. At the sight of Gabe moving towards his dresser, he winced, feeling his heart thump widely. What was the angel doing now? He nervously observed, waiting to see what Gabe's next move was. It seemed as if the angel was making a point of keeping his back to Sam now for some reason. And while that did make things a bit easier, it also frustrated him.

He watched the sandy-haired man for a few more moments, taking note of the angel's guarded expression. Had he done something? Other than read shameless fanfics that he was solely starting to accept maybe should have been his first clue to that he might possibly, maybe, liked Gabe more than a friend, more than _this_.

God—no—not that—this was stupid. This was Gabe after all. And they needed to talk. They did. While he knew where the heavenly being, older than the galaxy itself, stood on this particular issue, he didn't know if Gabe could tell that there was a fundamental shift happening between them. Or maybe Gabe did, and he was just choosing to ignore it for some reason? Being chivalrous or something?

"Gabriel?"

"Yeah?"

The sandy-haired man didn't turn towards him, though, which only caused Sam's insides to knot further. Wait. Had he really done something wrong? Was that why Gabriel wasn't acting like himself right now? Because now that Sam was entertaining it, it wasn't—gah! He sighed inwardly, brushing back his long hair. He didn't like this. Not one bit. His mind ran circles inside, looking for every reasonable explanation to justify what was going on right then.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" The archangel was standing in front of a photo of the Winchester brothers and their mother. All three subjects were happy, clearly sharing some laugh about something together. Cas had taken the photo a few years back.

"You're calling me Sam, Gabe." He might as well get this over with and confront it head-on. "You never call me that. It's always Sam-isicle or Sam-ado, Sam-I'd-do or, hell, Sam-of-my-Dreams." Amber eyes instantly darted to him in surprise. "You never call me just Sam, though. Never."

The older heavenly being forced a quiet, amused laugh, though. His hand flicked back in obvious dismissal of Sam's claims. Only when his hand unexpectedly collided with an object and sent it hurtling to the floor a second later did he look slightly unnerved. The frame cracked, splintering the glass almost instantly. Gabe groaned quietly, low enough Sam nearly had to crane his neck to hear it.

"Damn it," muttered the archangel under his breath, stooping low and picking up the broken picture. He snapped his fingers soon after, and the frame and glass were good as new again. With more tenderness than Sam had ever seen from the angel before, Gabe gently set the photo back in the same spot on the dresser, hesitantly meeting the taller man's eyes. "Sorry."

Sam blinked in response. No. This wasn't right. At all. Something was really wrong here. Maybe Roz had learned how to control like Chuck could or something? Maybe they were all under a spell. Maybe this wasn't real but a dreamscape or something. He opened his mouth to say something, noticing a brief look flicker across the older being's face before it vanished once more. That look, whatever it was—it haunted Sam, punched him right in the gut. He couldn't remember a time when he had seen the angel look so—maybe after they had found out he had been held captive by Asmodeus and tortured? He didn't know. He just didn't like seeing that look on Gabe's face. He knew that for certain.

"Talk to me, will you?"

Gabriel's brows furrowed, and his head minutely tilted. "About what?"

"Whatever the hell is going through that head of yours," Sam practically shouted back, completely frustrated by the whole situation. "Did I do something wrong?"

Gabe jerked back in surprise. "What?"

Sam pushed forward, though. If they could talk about whatever this was, they could fix it then. And then everything would return to being normal and good again. Maybe. "Is that what's happening here? I met your sister and now—"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Gabe's hands flew up frantically as he stared back in shock. "This has nothing to do with E—_Roz_." He quickly had caught himself in time somehow. "Trust me. She's the furthest thing from my head right now."

"Then what is this?" The question danced upon the tip of his tongue, held back by mere strands.

"Uh . . . two people talking?" Gabe shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm serious, Gabriel. What is this?" He motioned between the two of them, stepping towards the archangel. "You never call me Sam. And you've been—I don't know—it's like I don't even know you right now. Like I'm talking to someone else who just looks like you."

Amber eyes silently watched him for a minute. Gabe's face relaxed slightly before a soft, unamused laugh rumbled out. There was a hint of anger bubbling underneath.

"For once, Sam, it's not about you."

"Then, what _is_ it about?" He approached him slowly. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Gabe repeated dryly before he threw his hands up and scoffed. "Oh, I don't know. How about the fact my kid brother has been sneaking around, hiding and lying about the fact he can't sleep for a week now, and I didn't even notice it? I'm a goddamn archangel, and I didn't even see he was having a problem. Because you know what I was doing instead? I was flirting with you, Sam."

"I didn't notice either, Gabriel."

He batted that comment away with a scoff. "That doesn't matter."

"Why?" Sam pushed, taking a few more steps towards him. "Why doesn't it? I'm just as—"

The words exploded suddenly, filling the air with an unfortunate heaviness. "Because he's not _your_ brother! He's _mine_!"

"Yeah, well, he happens to be one of my best friends," Sam threw back, shaking his head. No one could rile him up quite like Gabriel unfortunately. "But that's neither here nor there right now, Gabe. We both messed up. Hell, Dean didn't even seem to notice it, and they're sleeping together."

Amber eyes darted away in a flicker of annoyance briefly. "You don't get it, Sam."

"So, explain it to me then." He shrugged languidly. "What don't I get?" He moved his head slightly to make sure to catch the amber eyes. "Because from my point of view—"

"I left him, Sam." Gabe's voice was low and shaky. "I left him. Him and Balthazar. And Roz—though, let's be honest, she never really needed me. Still doesn't. I left him, though, and no matter what I do, it's not going to fix that hurt. I know this. I do. Because . . ." His head shook when his voice cracked. He took a deep breath and then tried again. "I loved my brother, Sam. I really did. And somewhere deep down I probably still do on some level. And I'm not talking about Castiel right now either," he admitted with a heavy sigh. "When Michael ordered me to cast Lucifer down with him, I-I froze." He glanced upwards hesitantly before he continued. "Lucifer was my brother, Sam. The one who would tell Michael to knock it off when he and Raphael would take their torture too far. At least that was until the Mark happened."

The hazel-eyed, long-haired Winchester brother stood firmly rooted to the ground, unable to move. A hug wouldn't be nearly enough for the pain Gabriel was revealing. He knew that. Just like he knew Gabe needed to get this out.

"And then it hit me. What was to stop Dad from asking me to do the same to Cas, to Balthazar one day? So, yeah, I froze—and then I ran. I rushed to where Balthazar was, shouted at him to look out for Cas, to keep him safe while I was gone. I shouldn't have done that. Cas was my responsibility, my obligation. Not Balthazar's. But I did."

How many times had Sam heard Dean say something similar about himself over the years? Or how many times was it vice versa? He swallowed down his heart that threatened to leap out. _Oh,_ _Gabe._

"I didn't even stop to think about Roz. I didn't. She's never needed me. In fact, we always were at each other's throats. She didn't like how hands off I was with everyone but Cassie. She claimed I was always hardest on him, and maybe she was right. Maybe I was. But I didn't want him to end up like me, you know? I wanted better for him."

"Gabriel—"

"No, Sam. I need to get this all out. All right? I get so close and then I stop. And, you know, maybe it'll show you what kind of asshole I really am."

Sam's eyes closed, as his heart clenched.

"I get why your brother is overprotective with you. Why he gets irritated with me. I do. Because he and I—we both had to be more than just big brothers to you brats. We had to step up, absent fathers and all that crap." He started to pace with a pained look. A few times, he paused and glanced at Sam before he continued his frantic walking back and forth. It was a good three minutes before he spoke again. "I'm not saying I consider myself Cassie's father or anything like that, but I told you before. I favored him, Sam. I _still_ do." He sighed loudly, hanging his head as his fingers slid through his hair rather frustrated. "It's why this is so maddening. Because I was here this time. I was stepping up, but, you know, also respecting Dean and that whole mess of a bond thing they have going on."

The younger Winchester's brows furrowed at that remark. Mess of a bond thing?

"So, I thought it was making a difference, that he understood I—" Gabe tugged on tufts of his hair suddenly and groaned. "It would kill me if something happened to him. I mean, that hunt we did awhile back—I so badly wanted to snap us all out of there. To get us back to the bunker. To be like, fuck it, we don't have to save _everyone_ all the damn time. But that's not who you guys are. That's not who my brother is anymore. So, I pulled back, let Dean worry about him and focused on keeping you safe instead." He scoffed angrily. "Course we saw how well that turned out."

Sam nodded slowly, unable to think of anything to say.

"And then he got sicker and sicker . . . and . . . I knew he'd be fine. He had to be. I couldn't come back just to have my insides ripped out and shredded, right? I mean, Dad's a fucking dick, sure, but—" He let the thought drop instantly, his words cutting out sharply. "And I knew the bond between them, our brothers—that bond would keep him alive. Maybe at the detriment of your brother—"

Sam reared back with large eyes. What?

"But that was a risk I was willing to take. Because their bond is strong, ingrained in their very beings. I don't even think Dad could break it if he wanted to honestly." He shrugged neutrally. "Though, that's what you get when you take one human's flayed soul, tortured for forty years in Hell, and combine it with the Grace of an angel created not only by God himself but also his awesome big brother archangel." Amber eyes locked onto the hazel. "We talk—or maybe you did—about the horrors Dean must have gone through. That _you_ went through during your experience in Hell. But I doubt anyone has ever even considered what it'd be like for an angel like Cassie to fight through the hordes of demons, hellspawn, hellhounds, you name it, to reach your brother. The amount of pain he had to endure, the blood he shed, the feathers that blackened from Hell's inferno. Not to mention, the agony of seeing your brother's broken soul in a place like that in the first place."

Now that he mentioned it, Gabriel had a point. They never once asked Cas about that. At least Sam never had. And Cas had gone multiple times to Hell for them. Not to mention all the trips up to Heaven where Sam knew he had been tortured there as well. They just assumed that his trips to Hell was like any other horrific place for the angel, something he could compartmentalize away neatly in order to complete his mission. But what if he hadn't all these years? What if he just had gotten really good at hiding his emotional trauma, thanks to them and their idiotic emotional constipation?

"Their bond, Sam—it's strong, not because of their love for one another, but because that sort of bond is created from terrible pain. It's soaked in their mixed blood and respective tattered soul and Grace. It's the type of bond you never want to make." Gabe's eyes held a haunted, heartbreaking look. "They warn you about it up there in Heaven. Dad personally warned me about it in fact."

Sam blinked in surprise. What?

"Because, you see, I wanted to rescue Luci once," admitted the youngest archangel. "Because I didn't think my big brother was beyond saving. He couldn't be. This was Luci. The one who taught me how to fly. How to prank Michael. Who taught me what it meant to _be_ a brother."

"Chuck visited you after you left to become Loki?"

"Once. Yeah." Gabriel scoffed, shaking his head with a disgusted look. "He wasn't quite set on his Chuck alter ego then, so he was still Dad, ball of intense light and crap."

Sam stared at the archangel for a few moments, reeling with this new information. Chuck had visited Gabriel? He had actually made the effort to show himself to Gabe? Somehow, Sam had a feeling that was monumental intel. That it was extremely important.

"Gabe, Chuck met with you after—do you realize—Gabriel!"

"It's not that big of a deal, Sam," he huffed dismissively. "So, Dad visited me. So what?"

"After he left, he didn't show himself to any of the others. He just talked to Joshua every now and then to relay his orders. He actually met with you, though. Came out of hiding and met with you."

The sandy-haired man sighed heavily and shook his head again. "And, again, I say 'So what.' So, he met with me. Do you know what he said? He gave me a lecture, Sam. Like always. Told me to stop being so weak and open my eyes. That if I rushed to the cage and helped Luci escape, I'd be the one responsible for Earth's ultimate destruction. That I would lose myself in the process. That the bond that would come out of my saving him—it'd break me. So, I did what I always do, and I gave up. I left Luci there. All because Dad said so."

"Gabriel, think about it. Why you? Why visit you?"

Amber eyes narrowed on him. "I don't know. Dad was bored."

"But why _you_? Why not Michael, his most loyal? Or Raphael, his most—"

"Sadistic asshole of a son," remarked dryly the youngest archangel.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just trying to come up with some sort of explanation and there isn't one, but what if it was because he knew _you_ were the one he had to worry about?"

"That's ridiculous. Me? A thing to worry about?" Gabe forced a mirthless laugh. "Sam-auron, you're clearly suffering from some form of insanity there if you think Dad thought that. I was the least of his problems."

"Or not. He created Castiel for you. Right?"

"Yeah, and . . . ?"

"Did he ever do that for any of the others?"

"Well, no, but it's not like any of my brothers gave a damn about anyone but themselves."

"Exactly. But you did. You've shown over the years how—I don't know how else to say it—human you are. Just look at Cas and Balthazar. They're close to you, and it sounds like you had a help in making them into the angels they are . . . or were in Cas's case. Hell, even your sister has moments of humanity in her."

Gabe raised a brow. "She'd likely kick your ass for that comment. You do realize like that?"

"Yeah, sure, but right now I'm not necessarily worried about that."

"You should be," remarked the shorter man with a whistle. "She's pretty fierce. She once took on one of the Grigori because she didn't like the way he looked at her. Ask Balthazar if you don't believe me. And she once kicked the crap out of a Rit Zien when he came too close for comfort to Cas. Course I was right there beside her too. Damn idiot nearly smote him, thinking Cassie was too gravely injured after a stupid practice session went wrong. As if a few broken wings were the worst injury little bro ever had." Gabriel smiled inwardly at likely the memory. "That damn kiddo was accident prone. So bad, in fact, I considered bubble wrap and duct tape with him. You know, if it was around back then."

Sam felt the corner of his lips curl upwards, momentarily distracted. He enjoyed these moments.

"But, come on, though. I'm obviously not the one Dad ever had to worry about. I run. That's my go-to in every situation I've ever been in."

"You said it yourself, though. You didn't run this time. You're overcoming that instinct, Gabe."

"Yeah? And then? Then what, Sam? I miraculously somehow kick the crap out of Dad?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "But it's something to consider." He motioned with his hands. "After all, we survived this long off dumb luck. Maybe we'll get a break again."

"Or maybe this is just a red herring of Dad's to make you think _I'm_ the one you need when it should have been someone else entirely. Hell, it could be Roz for all we know, Sam."

"Maybe, but we still need to consider the possibility before we discredit it entirely."

"Fine," groaned the shorter man. "But it's stupid for the record. I wasn't Dad's favorite. Luci was. I was just there. Like Raphael was. I had no big—"

"Ugh!" a voice rang out loudly. "You've got to be kidding me. Seriously, you two?"

"Roz?"

A moment later, the dark-haired angel stepped into the room, seemingly entering from some hidden door she had created. She glanced at them and crossed her arms with an annoyed look.

"Sam, I mean, really?!" she complained, waving her arm emphatically at him. "You couldn't just take the win. You couldn't just be like 'Oh, Gabriel. You have me all sorts of messed up that I can't think straight anymore." Her voice was too high to be his, but he knew better than to correct her. "Oh no! No. Instead you have to be like one of your damn monsters sucking the last bits of marrow out, don't you?" She then pointed at her older brother. "And _you_!"

"What'd I do?" Gabe asked with a scoff. He glanced at Sam, who merely shrugged.

"You entertained him! I mean, seriously, Gabriel! You couldn't just keep your mouth shut until after you two talked. Of course you couldn't. Who am I kidding? It wouldn't be you if you could."

"Hey!"

She shook her head angrily, however, and threw up a hand. "Whatever. I give up. You two idiots can remain in your blissful, stupid, ignorant fictional worlds until end of time for all I care." She whirled around, her long hair fanning out gracefully behind her as she turned away from them. "If you need me—and I strongly suggest you fucking don't—I'll be with Annael."

"Doing what?" remarked her sandy-haired older brother with furrowed brows.

"Shopping away my rage at you two dumbasses." She then turned back with a fierce look. "You got a problem with that?"

"Nope." The word was said in utter seconds.

"Good." She huffed and snapped her fingers, vanishing again from the room.

Sam winced before he slowly glanced towards the archangel. His door still hadn't reappeared in its usual spot. "I don't suppose she undid her spell or whatever it is on you, did she?"

Gabriel paused for half a second before he sighed and shook his head. "Doesn't seem so."

Snorting, the hazel-eyed man shrugged. "Didn't think so." They couldn't be so lucky.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?" He reluctantly turned towards the archangel again.

"Was she right, though?" A wry smile cracked the corner of the sandy-haired man's lips.

"About?"

"Do I, quote unquote, have you all sorts of messed up that you can't think straight anymore?"

Sam's eyes darted away instantly, feeling his cheeks flush slightly. "Shut up, Gabriel."

"Your wish is my command, my sweet, beautiful moose of Kansas," he drawled back with a wide shit-eating grin. "But just remember. You're _my_ moose."


	4. Lockdown

**A/N:** Hello, all. Hopefully, all of you are surviving quarantine all right. My work has thankfully slowed down in the evenings enough for me where I can find time to write. Lots of Sabriel in this chapter with a dash of Dad!Sam and a little teaser. You have DaughterOfAres to think that this chapter is so fluffy, because I had a part of drama in it-that she told me to edit out immediately. Oh, and I freely credit one of the fanfic author's pseudonyms used as being from the Simpsons. I'm not that humorous or brilliant. By the way, if anyone is interesting, I'm likely going to write a quick one-shot of Roz and Sister Jo's shopping adventure because the bunny showed up today-and just wouldn't shut up while I was working. As always, I hope you enjoy. Please stay home and be healthy-and all the best to you and your families.

**Lockdown**

Three hours had passed since Roz had left. Three long, agonizing hours. Still no door. Still locked in his room with Gabe. He was beginning to wonder if anyone had even noticed that he had been gone again. He assumed his brother wouldn't since Dean likely was dealing with Cas. But there were other people in the bunker. Surely, someone had to have noticed by now.

"Sam?"

The Hunter's head flopped back against his headboard with a heavy sigh. Here Gabe went again.

"Sam?"

For the last ten whole minutes or so, Gabriel had been saying his name for some reason. Like a child. A child bored out of his mind. The archangel likely thought it was endearing. Which—no—no—he was so not going down that road.

"Saaaaaaaaam!"

"What?!" snapped the six foot-four man, glaring at the shorter angel.

"Hi."

Shaking his head, the tall Hunter exhaled loudly again, his long hair moving from the short puff of air. What was this? Gabriel's attempt at courting? It was awful if it was. And slightly—nope—not doing it. He was _not_ doing it.

"Sam?"

Hazel eyes rolled hard. He was going to murder Gabe—and then see if there was a spell to bring the annoying archangel back later when he'd, of course, regret it.

"Samwich?" A low chuckle then left the heavenly being's lips. Sam barely held back his groan of exasperation. Here it'd come. The pathetic attempt yet again. "Or is it more like Sam-_witch _now, am I right?" Gabriel elbowed him in the ribs as he remained sprawled out beside the Hunter on the bed.

Damn, that was awful. "Dean beat you to that joke already, Gabe," he remarked dryly a moment later. Like weeks ago, in fact, but he wasn't going to point that out. Not yet at least.

"Oh."

Sam forced a laugh, closing his eyes. Yeah. Oh.

Sighing inwardly, the Hunter contemplated their next move in terms of their escape. Admittedly, it was something he had been doing repeatedly for the last three hours. He had tried earlier praying to Jack, then to Balthazar, and even Cas. None of them had come to their rescue unfortunately. Though, he honestly wasn't betting on Cas hearing it this time, so he wasn't really all that disappointed when the Seraph hadn't burst in somehow. However, Jack or Balthazar should have heard him. Maybe the blond sarcastic dick had heard him and just decided that Roz was the scarier of the two and ignored his prayers. But then Sam still had Jack to count on, and the Nephilim he considered good as his own son surely would have come and rescued them. Right?

"Sam?"

Ugh. It was never-ending torture.

The more time passed, the more Sam found himself struggling between either choking the archangel next to him or holding him. Just what exactly was Roz hoping to accomplish here? Them killing one another? Because it was getting dangerously closer to that scenario the more Gabe continued with his childish antics.

"Sam-moose?"

Sam bit back his instinctive groan and clenched his jaw. "What now, Gabriel?"

"I'm proud of you."

Huh? That was new. The Hunter instantly turned his head, recognizing the rare seriousness and honesty behind the words. He blinked when he caught Gabriel's gentle smile directed at him.

"For what?" he asked, seemingly confused. What exactly did he do that would make Gabriel proud of him? He was constantly snapping at him now since their lockdown.

The archangel continued to stare back at him with the softest look Sam could ever remember seeing on the man's face before. "For not breaking down entirely when Dean let Apocalypse Michael ride him." _Oh._ "For forgiving the kid over your mom's death." _Oh . . ._ "For sticking beside Cas all these years and accepting the rest of us misfits into your family." _Oh!_ Sam blinked, his heart pounding loudly. "For learning magic—not an easy task by any means, but you're excelling at it."

Sam felt the corner of his lip tug upwards before he nodded slowly. He couldn't ignore the little flutter that had resulted from those words.

"You're a good man, Sam Winchester."

If he were a different man, he'd have melted entirely. Such pride and gentleness and love were behind Gabe's words. He couldn't deny any of that. Then again, he had always known where Gabe stood. It was him they were waiting on.

"Even though I'm one of the messengers of your father's destruction?" he asked wryly.

Gabe huffed a laugh and shrugged. "Even then. Because you're doing it to save humanity." He then leaned in closer. "Between you and me, though, a part of me hopes you somehow snap Dad out of it and get him to remember the importance of family and love and everything he used to preach to us all the damn time." His smile quirked up a bit wider, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. "After all, I always bet on you, Sam, and you haven't disappointed me thus far."

"Give it time." He caught the amber eyes rolling as Gabe waved his words away dismissively. "I do have a confession to make, though." He instantly noticed the sudden rigidness as the archangel tensed reflexively. "It's nothing horrible. It's just . . ." He heaved another loud sigh and glanced upwards. He could do this. He could admit this. He could. "I read your sister's fanfics."

"Okay? And then?" He fully turned his body towards Sam. "What? You can't just leave me hanging there. What about it?"

"I read a lot of her Sabriel fics." Like in the upwards of a hundred or so if he were honest. She was really good at writing. He enjoyed Fanfic Gabe. It was likely why he was hesitant about Real Gabe.

"Yeah, all right, me too. And Cas." The smaller man shrugged, not understanding the revelation. "Hell, Balthazar is the one who got me hooked on them in the first place."

Sam's eyes widened instantly. Wait. _Balthazar?_

"Oh, I know. Took me by surprise, too, but what can I say? He likes a lot of random things. Except Celine Dion. He can't stand her." Gabriel shook his head lightly. "So, I would keep your like for her under wraps if I were you. As far as I've read, E—" He coughed and cut himself off sharply before he slipped up again. "_Roz_ hasn't included that tidbit yet."

Opening his mouth to retort something, he paused for a moment as it hit him what Gabriel had said. He stared at the smaller man and closed his mouth for a second.

"What?" The youngest archangel frowned. "Do I have something on my face or something?"

"How do you remember that?"

"That you love Celine Dion?" Gabe snorted. "Samheart, please. Give me a little credit here. I'm only hopelessly devoted to you after all."

Sam snorted, rolling his eyes. "My mistake, Gabriover." The archangel immediately stared at him, entirely puzzled. The Hunter chuckled, shaking his head. He would have thought that one was obvious. "Gabriel plus lover: Gabriover."

The smaller man's right brow raised slowly as he continued staring back. "Yeah. No. That's just . . . no." He shook his head.

"What? So, you're the only one allowed to make up nicknames in this relationship?" Sam huffed a laugh, crossing his arms as he turned on his bed towards the man. "I see how it is."

"Face it, Sam-Who-Holds-My-Heart. I'm just better at this than you are."

"Whatever." He'd come up with a good one. Someday.

"I still love you, though," Gabe remarked quietly as he bumped against him lightly. "But let's leave the nickname creation to me, all right?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "You're only good at it because you've been around since before Creation."

"Wait. Are you calling me old?" gasped the archangel, rearing back slightly in shock. His amber eyes sparkled with sheer giddiness and mischief.

"Well . . ." the taller man drawled with his hands raised up with palms out "if the shoe fits . . ."

"How dare you!" The underlying laughter was clearly heard in Gabriel's voice. "I should snap my fingers and—"

"What?" Sam challenged, leaning towards the archangel. His mattress creaked beneath him. "You should snap your fingers and _what_, Gabe?" He smirked when he caught the sandy-haired man's harsh swallow. Good. He was glad to give him a taste of his own medicine. After all, it wasn't like anyone was going to rescue them anytime soon. So, really, what else did they have to do?

"Sam," pleaded the angel suddenly with a pained look.

"Nuh-huh. You started this. So, let's finish it." He finally had the angel cornered for once. Though, he'd freely admit he was playing dirty. It was a dick move, sure, but it was working. And the fact that Sam was possibly enjoying their banter immensely was entirely beside the point. As was the fact he was leaning dangerously close to Gabe's face, closer than what was called for in this situation.

"Oh, Sam-ccubus, you have no idea what you're doing." Gabe's voice was low, almost hushed.

"And just what am I _doing_, Gabriel?" His smirk widened when he caught the sharp, entirely unnecessary, inhale from the archangel when he emphasized the word 'doing.' Did angels feel lust? Because Sam was pretty sure Gabe was right then. His vessel was definitely reacting like it was a good possibility. At least from what the Hunter could see. He was playing with fire, and he knew it.

"Sam," whined the heavenly being, his eyes pleading.

How was it possible that this immortal, fierce, warrior of God archangel could be so undone by him of all things? It was absurd. And so . . . something. Intriguing? Sexy? Both? He didn't know for certain, but he felt himself leaning closer to the edge. It was a place he had rarely ventured, let alone tip-toed near since the angel's admission of his feelings for the human.

"Gabriel," he murmured back, his voice deepening as his eyes stared intensely at the sandy-haired beside him.

"You don't want me to finish this," remarked the archangel, forcing in another entirely unnecessary shaky breath. Had Gabriel forgotten that angels didn't need to breathe?

"Why?" Now, Sam wasn't stupid by any means. He knew the why. Gabe's entirely human reactions screamed the why. He just was curious to see if the archangel, one of God's almightiest warriors, would show his vulnerability freely to him, lower his shield in other words. He didn't know why he wanted to know so bad, just that he did.

Two seconds later, though, he regretted this as he found himself being pushed roughly against his headboard by a strong hand to his chest. Then, Gabriel was in his space, so close he could steal Sam's breath if he wanted to. All of the Hunter's previous thoughts went straight out the nearest window. All he could see were the blown wide amber eyes with specks of Grace flickering every now and then in them.

_Oh._

Now, it was Sam's turn to swallow down his emotions. To claw desperately at his body's reactions to Gabe's actions and shove them to the very deepest parts of himself. Oh, how the tables had turned. And how they had turned.

"Because me finishing this, Sam, would mean me slamming my lips down onto yours while my hands work open all those damn buttons on that Dad-forsaken flannel of yours," Gabriel stated gruffly. "Though, let's face it. I'd probably just snap our clothes away to make it faster. If you got it, use it, right?" He barked a quiet, shaky chuckle. "But . . . we're not there yet. So, I'm begging you, kiddo. Don't tempt me. Please." His eyes locked penetratingly into Sam's "I am but one strand away from saying 'Fuck it' and, well, fucking."

The question stumbled out before Sam could even stop himself.

"Top or bottom?"

The sandy-haired man chuckled quietly and leaned in towards Sam's ear. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he whispered before another laugh bubbled out.

Sam's eyes closed instantly as his entire body shook. Holy fuck.

"Uh . . ." A throat cleared harshly from where the door usually was. "I'll come back later then."

Hazel and amber eyes darted to the sound, catching the retreating form of the Nephilim through the doorway that had thankfully reappeared.

"Jack?" Sam leaned forward, only to groan loudly when he accidentally pressed against Gabriel. He vaguely heard the hiss in his ear. Turning his head, he glanced at the archangel. However, before he could even say a word, the man snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light. Sam's head immediately slammed back against his headboard with another groan. Damn it.

* * *

Knocking against the closed door to Room 22 several minutes later with the back of his hand, Sam slowly turned the knob and opened it. He instantly caught the young man sitting cross-legged atop of the bed and gave Jack a soft, albeit awkward smile.

"Hey. Can we talk?"

The Nephilim shrugged neutrally before he nodded, setting down his laptop to give him his full attention. However, before Sam could say anything more, Jack cut him off and spoke.

"But if this is about you and Uncle Gabe, it's fine. Really. I'm okay."

The shaggy-haired Hunter chuckled quietly. "I'm sure you are, but I wanted to thank you first, for rescuing us and getting the door back somehow." When he caught the younger man's head tilt, he paused. "You were the one who brought the door back, weren't you?"

"Your door was missing?" Jack asked innocently, his head tilting more. "I didn't see that."

"Didn't you hear my prayers? Isn't that why you came to my room in the first place?"

"What prayers?" The Nephilim seemed even more confused now. "I didn't hear anything." He then winced, shaking his head at something that had occurred to him. "Well, except Dad's occasional "Please give me the patience not to hit this dorky idiot upside the head" ones. But he says those so frequently I just tune him out these days."

Normally, Sam would have laughed at that, but his mind was wrapped up in the mystery unfolding. How was it possible that Jack hadn't heard his prayers? Was there some way to dampen prayers? Or redirect them? He'd ask Gabriel about it later. If he saw him again that was.

"They why were you at my door, Jack?"

He shrugged again. "Aunt Roz said you had wanted to talk to me."

"Oh did she now," muttered the Hunter brusquely. So, she had purposefully sent Jack to his room to find them like that. What a little—

"Dad?"

He instantly pulled himself from his thoughts. His heart still was tugged whenever Jack called him that. Though, Jack would tell anyone who'd listen about his three dads. "Yeah?"

"You really don't need to give me the Birds and the Bees talk. Dad already gave it to me."

"Cas or Dean?" Usually, it'd be Cas Jack would be referring to with Dad, but Sam wasn't certain if that was still the case considering the fallen angel's current predicament.

"Dean. But Dad came in later to try his hand at it as well."

Nodding slowly, Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah." Hopefully, they gave him some good advice. He still wasn't certain whose advice was better for himself even, Dean's or John's. John's was 'When you find the one, Sammy, you'll just know. Down to your soul that they're the one. There won't be any doubts about it. They're the other piece you're missing. And when they're gone, you don't get that back ever. No matter how hard you try. There's only one. So, choose wisely, Sammy.'

So, could Gabriel be his one? But—John had claimed there would be no doubts, and Sam doubted . . . sometimes.

Dean's advice, on the other hand, was extremely colorful. Full of euphemisms and condoms thrust into his hands with the occasional 'Just be sure that when you're ready to, you know, go for it, you're prepared. And don't worry if it's not that great the first time. No one has mind-blowing sex the first time. That comes later.' Actually, on second thought, Dean's advice had worked better he supposed. Sort of. Less pressure at least.

"Dad?"

Sam blinked upwards again and then back to Jack. He really needed to keep his focus here.

"Yeah?"

"I'm happy for you. You deserve someone to love too."

He laughed in response. "Now, you sound like Cas." He watched Jack's smile grow into a beaming grin. He jerked his head towards the young man's laptop. "What are you reading?"

"Fanfiction."

Sam couldn't help but groan as his head fell back. Was everyone reading fanfiction these days?

"But not Aunt Roz's," Jack quickly added.

Hazel eyes instantly darted to his kid. What? "It's not hers?"

"No." He shrugged lightly, glancing back at his computer. "Her stuff is sort of, I don't know, dry, I guess. It's all romantic and stuff." He then winced, hesitantly turning back to Sam. "Don't tell her I said that please."

"Your secret is safe with me." He slowly walked over to the younger man. "So, who are you reading about?"

"It's more general actually. About the angels up in Heaven. Before—you know." He brushed back his hair. "It sort of shows the backstories for Michael, Uncle Gabe, Lucifer, and Raphael."

"Is your Dad in it at all?"

Jack half-snorted. "Sorta. He shows up occasionally. Usually when he and Balthazar are getting in trouble for something. The writer has Dad's humor down pretty well." His eyes darted back to his laptop, his face falling with a thought.

Sam sighed inwardly, understanding Jack's emotions instantly. He took another few steps toward to the bed before he gently wrapped the young man in a sideways hug. He wished he could tell him that everything would be fine. But Jack had seen enough to know that they just didn't know and that it would only be hopes and wishes, not anything based on facts.

"We're going to fix this, Jack. It's sort of what we do after all." He chuckled quietly, squeezing his boy briefly tenderly. "When we're not dealing with monsters and Apocalypses that is."

Jack hugged him back warmly, melting against him like a small child for a quick second before he pulled back. "Or when Grandpa not throwing a temper tantrum."

"Or that," Sam conceded. Hazel eyes then glanced at the computer screen. Jack was on AO3 it seemed. "So, who's the author writing this anyway? The Heaven fic you're reading?"

"Admiral Jacques Straps."

The snicker burst out instantly. "What?" That was something Dean or Gabe would have said.

Jack tilted his head, clearly not understanding the humor of it. "Admiral Jacques Straps. It's the author's pseudonym." His answer was spoken so innocently. It was positively adorable.

Sam forced himself to stop laughing. "And how many stories does Admiral have?"

"I think they're up to about 50. They're not as prolific as TricksterLovesMoose, though. That author has like a whole library dedicated to Sabriel that probably rivals ours."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Your uncles think they're hilarious, but they're extremely obvious." He caught Jack's confusion and chuckled. "Your Uncle Balthazar is likely Admiral Jacques Straps."

"Actually, you'd be wrong there, I'm afraid, my dear Samuel," the languid British drawl filtered in from the doorway. "I'm TricksterLovesMoose."

"Wait. So, then, Gabe's—" Sam scoffed, shaking his head. "Wow." He should have known on second thought. "You write Sabriel, though?"

Balthazar shrugged haphazardly. "It practically writes itself somedays. And it's not as if I have anything better to do these days."

"So, not only does your sister write it, but you two do too?"

"What can we say? Dad passed on the writing gene to us." He then motioned towards Jack. "Even my nephew is a great writer. Not of fanfiction, of course, but of real life. Jackie my boy brought us back at least." The blond lower-class angel then strode into the room. "My brother's in his room if you'd like to speak with him by chance, Sam."

Hazel eyes darted to the floor. "I'm not sure he wants to see me."

"Likely not, but I lived enough to see what sexual tension does in this bunker, and I don't want my poor innocent nephew to have to suffer through another bout of it because yet another Winchester can't get his head out of his ass. So, move along. We have things to discuss after all."

"You have things to discuss?" Sam repeated very slowly, crossing his arms before he glanced back at Jack. "Such as?"

"Such as ways to cheer Cassie up if you must know," Balthazar huffed, rolling his eyes. "Now, will you please take your humanness elsewhere and let the angels talk?"

Sam's eyes darted once more to Jack, catching the young man's nod that it was okay. Who was he to argue with him? He bowed his head slowly and then turned to leave. Here went nothing.

* * *

**A/N: **Poor Sam. How do you think that's going to go for him?


	5. Shot Through the Heart

**A/N:** Hello, lovely readers. Miss me? Meandering through the woods is my specialty it would seem lately, so enjoy the longer chapter. I admit the Tony Stark reference used near the end-was inspired by the lovely RiaRose. She has amazing Stony fics and spectacular HP works. If these are your thing as well as SPN, check her out. You won't be disappointed.

**Shot Through the Heart**

Sam could hear the soft rumble of his brother's music as he approached Dean's room not long after leaving Jack's. He considered walking past, letting them have their moment. There was really nothing he could do right now as it was. But then, Sam rarely could leave things alone when it came to those he loved going through hard times. He just had to help somehow.

His boots thumped quietly down the empty corridor.

He should have kept walking. Went straight to Gabe's room and talked with the archangel. Apologized for his earlier actions. It was the right thing to do.

Cas had Dean. He didn't need the long-haired hunter butting in once again.

And, yet, Sam still knocked against his brother's closed door and waited for half a moment.

When the door opened a second later and revealed his older brother, Sam's eyes darted to the floor guiltily. His brother looked like absolute crap.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

"It's fine," grunted Dean, giving him a quick once over before he turned back towards his room.

Sam followed his brother's gaze and quickly found the curled-up ball underneath the covers in the middle of Dean's bed. He felt ten times worse now. He had pulled his brother away from the clearly suffering angel.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Dean huffed, crossing his arms before he casually leaned back against the doorframe. The deep green focused intently on the ball. "If I knew that, Sammy . . ." His brother then let out a long, sad sigh a second later, his hands coming up to rub against his face. "We can't just be happy for once, can we?"

Then it wouldn't be their lives, would it?

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Sam replied with a shrug, "I think I screwed things up with Gabe." He felt his mood sour at the admission before he snuck a glance through his long hair.

"What?" Dean scoffed. Clearly his older brother didn't think his situation with Gabe was as bad as it was with Cas. Which, Sam supposed, it wasn't really on second thought. Damn, he was insensitive sometimes. Why didn't he—damn. "So, give the dick candy or something. He'll get over it."

"Dean—" Sam started to apologize.

"No," his brother snapped back, the stress of everything clearly getting to him. "No!" He jammed his finger hard into the taller one's chest, taking a step forward with a cold, almost feral look. "Sammy, that douche—ah, fuck it!" He threw his hands up in obvious surrender. "Gabriel loves you, man! You could jam his damn blade into him, and he'd still be all heart-eyes and wanting to bone you. So, for fuck's sake, don't tell me you've screwed things up to the point of never fixing it. Because you haven't. So, whatever the hell you did or _think_ you did, stop bitching and you fix it. Got it?"

Opening his mouth to say something back, Sam was cut off by a small whimper from the curled-up ball underneath the heavy blankets. He caught his brother's pained look before Dean whirled away and headed back towards the bed.

"Cas." His brother's voice cracked prior to a sharp, immediate inhalation, quickly gathering all his strength from within only to project it outward again. As if he was raising a shield to protect himself from the onslaught. For a moment after reaching him, Dean stood rigid at the angel's bedside, as if guarding a fallen soldier at the end of a firefight. He kept his chin tilted upwards, his eyes vacant and removed resting on the opposite wall. For a brief second, his hand hovered above the lump of a curled-up angel before he gently lowered it and rested it against what Sam assumed was Cas's shoulder. The gentleness of that one action screamed the hunter's emotional battle within.

His eyes closed heavily when he heard his brother's steady, yet stilted voice again.

"What do you need, Cas?"

_Come back to me, man—_was what Sam understand, though.

His heart thundered in his chest cruelly. They didn't deserve this. They were supposed to be happy, in love, fucking adorable, and grossing him out all the time. Not this. Anything but this.

Green eyes flitted up and met his. He had only seen his brother this lost once before. He swallowed down the lump that was in his throat, searching for any words. But there were none.

"Oh, Cassie," a voice suddenly sang out behind the tallest Winchester brother. Balthazar. Steely bluish gray eyes twinkled roguishly when the angel glanced at Sam and walked past. "Your amazing little brother Balthy has a present for you!"

"Dude," Dean growled, moving a few steps closer to Balthazar as if to protect Cas. Though, Sam didn't blame him. Anyone would at seeing Balthazar strolling in wearing a tight grey v-neck that said 'Proud little brother of the rainbow squad' complete with an intentionally destressed rainbow-colored cutout of angel wings, a pair of acid-washed jeans, and black cowboy boots. It was absurd and yet so totally the blond.

"Yes, hello to you as well, Hairless Ape," drawled Balthazar without so much as a glance, clearly rolling his eyes at the eldest Winchester. He then redirected his attention to the ball under the covers. "Come on, Brother. You've forced us to endure your emo phase long enough. Up you go."

"Hey, leave him—"

Sam blinked the second he saw Balthazar clap his hand over Dean's mouth and glare fiercely at him. He considered stepping in, knowing that he should. It was his brother after all. But the slight movement from the lump drew his attention from them. Wait a minute.

"If you come out, I'll let you have your present," promised the blond angel, half-singing it. Even Dean was watching, ceasing in his futile attempt. "And I know you'll love it, Cassie. So, come on." The lump moved a bit more, and Balthazar lowered his hand from Dean. "Come out and join us. Will you?"

There was a slight hesitation before the hiding former angel tossed the covers off soon after, blinking owlishly at his younger brother. The messy dark hair was sticking up in all sorts of directions.

"What . . ." Bleary blue eyes darted from Dean then to the blond. Squinting, his head then tilted all the way to the side as he obviously read Balthazar's shirt. "Rainbow squad?"

Balthazar snickered quietly, turning fully towards his withdrawn brother. "Hello, Castiel." The words flowed elegantly off his tongue in a tender, loving manner. "Good of you to join us finally." He flashed a gentle smirk towards him.

Cas, however, huffed, glancing about the room for a moment before returning to the blond. "Where is this present you promised?"

Sam glanced back to the blond, wondering the same thing.

With a flippant shrug, Balthazar held his hands up. "I lied. There's no present."

"You assbutt!" Cas growled, glaring at him.

"Yes, I know. I'm a wretched brother," the blond replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. The battleship grays then glanced momentarily at Dean before they returned to Cas. "However, before you decide to go all prima donna on us again, perhaps you could hear me out first." He didn't wait for a reply. He just took another step forward and spoke. "You have a human here, a rather ridiculously annoying one I might add, who is at a loss on how to help you and desperately longs to do so. So instead of being your usual dramatic self, perhaps you could—I don't know—use your words, Castiel."

"I'm not dramatic."

"Oh, dear brother of mine, you're so dramatic you'd win the Best Picture of the Year yet again."

Cas blinked with his trademark head tilt. "What?"

Balthazar sighed exasperatedly in response, shaking his head. "Honestly, you make this too easy sometimes," he muttered under his breath.

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at that, hearing his brother's quiet subdued laugh join in a second later. Maybe having the sarcastic dick around wouldn't be as horrible as they initially thought. He did seem to help Cas snap out of this more than they could. Speaking of said former angel, he watched Cas then glance down and pick at the crumpled-up blanket for a moment. The mood soured once more as the unsettling sound of silence filtered in. Dean, for his part, quickly headed over to his angel not long after.

No words were said between the couple, but Sam knew none needed to be said. Those two had been in perfect sync for more than a decade. He watched Cas suddenly lean forward, his forehead pressed into Dean's midsection, wrapping his arms around him tightly and holding him as if expecting someone to snatch the green-eyed hunter. Still no words were said between them, but Sam could tell the exact second when the right word was said solely from the way Cas crumpled into his brother's chest when the man lightly carded the messy dark hair.

This was a moment for them alone, not Sam and Balthazar. He was intruding again. Like always. Though, at least this time he wasn't alone in it. He could find some solace in that. He glanced where he had last seen the self-indulgent angel, wondering if the blond even realized that they should leave. For a split second, his eyes met Balthazar's before the angel smirked and then zapped himself out of the room.

Show-off.

Knowing what he needed to do then, Sam turned away and silently slipped out of his brother's room. Team CasDean would be okay. He, on the other hand, needed to quit being a baby and man up like his brother was. Roz was right after all. He could have his white picket fence life. It just wouldn't be at all what he had imagined all those years ago. But it could be better. He just had one hurdle—the largest he had ever had to face in terms of dating. But it was the one tripping him up the hardest.

With his head held up high, the tall, long-haired man walked down the corridor towards the door next to his room. His footfalls echoed like a steady drum in a funeral dirge. The words wouldn't be pretty. But he didn't have time for pretty honestly. He needed to hear the words. Then he'd have all the information he needed to figure this out. And he was so close to doing it. He just needed to deal with the one thing—the thing that was holding him back—and then he could move on and decide. No more hiding. No more skirting the issue. No more ignoring it. He was going to rip off the Band-Aid once and for all. He just hoped it didn't end up with him bleeding all over the floor for nothing. Not that he—Damn it! He shook his head harshly and pushed it aside. No more stalling.

Gabe's door was closed. Deciding that he couldn't truly wait any longer, Sam opened the door and walked in after a short, curt knock against the wood. If he found the angel gone or—

"Yes, I know," groaned the sandy-haired archangel perched upon the bed sprawled out with his back against the wall and head tilted upwards to look up at the ceiling. He looked like a teenage girl talking to her best friend on a late Friday afternoon about a boy. All that was missing was the—never mind. Sam caught the pint of ice cream—Double Rainbow he noted with a snort—a second later on Gabe's right side. "I'll talk to her."

Who was Gabe talking to? And why? He honestly had half-expected to find the archangel watching porn or something, not this. Not that he—yep, Sam was just going to stop right there.

The rich warm amber eyes darted to the hunter instantly and then glanced away with a soft, dark smirk. "Look," Gabriel started, only to roll his eyes a second later at whatever the person said. "You can either continue—" He then scoffed unexpectedly, clenching his jaw. He was clearly not like what the person was saying. "Well, fine, bye to you too, Felicia!" he huffed angrily. "Yes, I know your name isn't—oh never mind, Anael!" He tossed his phone down onto the opposite side of the bed soon after, obviously done with his call. He let out a low growl, shaking his head before his voice softened. "I swear. I used to be respected by these damn kids long ago," he muttered before he turned his attention fully back to the tall human. "Need something, Sam?"

Sam? So, he was back to Sam again? That damn jerk was giving him whiplash from all this 'Sam' and 'Sammoose' crap and— He inhaled sharply and forced out an unamused laugh, his fingers flexing at his side into a fist before unclenching. _Well, Gabe, you get your wish then._ He took a few more steps towards the archangel, noticing the calculating, albeit puzzled, look he was receiving.

"Sam?" he repeated, his voice low in an almost threatening, growling tone. He caught Gabe's blink, which honestly was so ridiculous. Did that idiot forget he was an archangel somehow? Because Sam hadn't. He couldn't. "Sam," he huffed again, feeling his anger crash and then expel as he threw his hands out in front of him in utter disgust. "Sam," he said once more, his voice icy cold.

"Uh, yeah, that's your name?" Gabe's eyes never left his as the taller man stalked towards him.

"No."

"No?" The angel's nose scrunched up in the most ridiculous—it was like a damn bunny was staring at him. How could this—it wasn't—but he couldn't—so adorable and cute and . . . and . . . _Gabe_.

Hands suddenly seized forward catching the sandy-haired angel's t-shirt, a stupid normal blue plaid one with the first two buttons undone. It also wasn't lost on the hunter that Gabe allowed himself to be yanked forward into him. He filed that question away for later. Much later. If he didn't strangle the archangel first that was.

"This is the second time you've called me Sam—as if we don't have history. As if we're strangers. As if—" The words came out rapidly, tumbling all around them as the air crackled with a familiar energy. The deep earthy scent surrounded them, wrapping the hunter in a familiar embrace to remind him of the long ago dream of his. "As if we're nothing more than just acquaintances, but we're more than that, Gabe."

"What?"

If he wasn't spiraling and feeling his brain starting to catch up with him, he might have found the look of sheer speechlessness on the shorter man adorable.

"Cas and Dean couldn't get their heads of their asses for eleven years. Eleven! You and me, though—shit, I was just some snot-nosed hunter when we first met. Following my older brother around the country blindly because I didn't want to be alone. Because I didn't want to lose him either. I didn't give a damn about Dad, not really. But after Jess . . ." His voice cracked, and he felt the ache to his soul flare up again before it lessened. "I couldn't lose him too."

Gabe's eyes softened as his hand came up to rest gently atop of his.

"And then you—" Sam's voice shook as he remembered long ago the pain of losing his brother. He stared at the angel who understood his pain. "You forced me to watch my brother die time after time after time. And then you left me to live without him for months. I became numb, lost in my grief. I couldn't see straight. And just when I thought you couldn't be a fucking bigger dick, you almost convinced me that I actually killed Bobby—a man who was a father to me." His fingers curled tighter into the fabric of the angel's shirt. He wanted to shake him repeatedly. Hell, he wasn't above punching him either at this point. And yet he knew he couldn't.

"You wouldn't be wrong," Gabe quietly remarked, clearly hearing his thought process somehow. "I hurt you. And I know it."

"You allowed me to believe for months that Dean was dead, Gabriel! That there was no way I'd ever get him back. That I'd be forever alone. That—" He scoffed, drawing in a ragged breath. He could feel the coil deep within his gut loosen slightly as he unwound his pain finally. "That it was _my_ fault he died. That everyone who ever loved me—" His voice wavered again. Hazel eyes instantly darted to the far wall to a picture of Cas and him laughing. "Do you know how badly that messed me up? To go through that? To think everyone I loved would leave me? Would die because of me?"

"Sam . . ." the archangel started, his voice hushed and regretful.

"No! No, Gabe. Not this time." He forced a barked chuckle, shaking his head in anger. "Because while that messed me up inside, it—and this is the really messed up part—helped me later when Dean actually was in Hell. Before Cas saved him."

"I shouldn't have done that, though. I knew what it'd do to you, but I didn't . . ." The sandy-haired man closed his eyes before he leaned forward. "I panicked, Sam. That's the honest truth. I panicked when I saw you two. You two knuckleheads had already tried killing me once. And you two were both smart. I didn't know how much you knew already or how little you didn't. All I thought about was how you'd draw attention, and my dumbass brothers upstairs would somehow then figure out about me. You know? And I didn't want to be drug back to heaven to go through it all again. So, yeah, I panicked and lied saying it was a lesson." He crowded more into Sam's space, searching the taller man's eyes. "I was wrong. Dead wrong to do that. I see that now. For that, I'm sorry. I wish I could snap my fingers and wipe it all off the table, but I can't. Well," he grimaced, "technically, I could, archangel and all, but—" He cut himself off sharply. "I don't want to because it's a reminder to me not to—I'm sorry."

Sam stared back, unblinking. Was— His jaw was slightly dropped. Not a single thought was coherent in his mind. Had— In complete and utter shock, his brows were furrowed with a deep crease running in between them. _What_? His head tilted to follow Gabe's look.

The sandy-haired man for his part stared back for a moment doing his best trout breathing out of water impression before he likely thought better on whatever he was going to say. His eyes fell to the floor. His head turned slightly to the right in a look of extreme uncomfortableness.

"Did you just apologize?"

"Uh, yeah?" Whiskey eyes closed minutely before they found Sam's again. "I-I do that occasionally." His shoulders lifted hesitantly in an awkward shrug.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Sam forced a smile and glanced at his feet. His tongue lightly ran over his teeth as he inhaled deeply. How had they gotten to this part? Gabe was apologizing to him. The damn archangel who was a pain in his fucking ass always, constantly barraging him with non-stop sexual inuendo, was actually apologizing, was actually showing he could be an—_Oh!_

His eyes literally went wide in a cartoonish-like way. _Oh . . ._ He was an idiot. It suddenly all made sense. He stared at Gabe, unable to speak once more. That was the answer. When a synapse finally did fire, the hushed words tumbled from his lips, "Holy shit."

"What?" The angel's head jerked upwards, his warm eyes quickly sweeping over the tall hunter in obvious concern. "What's wrong?"

"I just got it." Gabe nodded slowly but said nothing. Sam could see that he had lost the archangel but pushed forward anyway. "What you're doing." It was so damn obvious. And sweet. Maybe. If he didn't think about it at least it was. "Why you're doing this."

One of the archangel's brows rose instantly and disappeared into his hairline. "Um, sorry, my sweet Samcrates. I'm not following you at all here." He then shook his head, his hair bouncing against his face, before he casually leaned back against his headboard again, sprawled out on display. Not at all distracting whatsoever. "What am I doing exactly?"

"Why you're calling me Sam."

"O-okay?"

At the slight hitch in Gabe's voice, the taller hunter rumbled a low chuckle. _Got you._ He walked closer to the fierce, wrathful warrior of God, having stepped away from him earlier. He caught the amber eyes widen slightly before the angel's eyes quickly darted to the far side of the wall. More chuckles bubbled out.

"You know, it's funny." He waited until Gabe turned back to him, noticing the angel's hesitant look. "Roz flat out told me, but I didn't want to believe her. I couldn't. But it's true, isn't it?" He bent down and leaned in towards the archangel. He was close enough to feel the heat radiating off the angel. "You're acting like this to show me that you can sacrifice for us. That I'm worth that in your eyes. That I'm worth every bit of effort on your part when you have rarely done anything in your life the hard way." When he caught the quick blink, his smirk grew. "Only there's a flaw in your plan, Gabriel."

"There is?" Amber eyes widened in horror momentarily afterwards. One could almost see the gears frantically turning in the man's head on how to spin this back correctly again. So far, the gears were still glitching.

"Yes." With an amused smirk, Sam Winchester stared down at the youngest archangel who held his gaze in half-panic and half-reverence. He leaned in more, hearing the man's slight but totally unnecessary inhale. He was obviously distracting the hell out of the so-called mighty archangel Gabriel. The thick earthy scent then started to envelope him warmly again, invading his every sense. "It ruins our thing, Gabe."

"_Our_ thing?"

He forced himself to suppress his chuckle when he saw Gabe's harsh swallow. The poor angel was surprisingly overwhelmed by him. He took it a step further then, still testing the waters. Eventually, he knew Gabe's mind would catch up, and his fun would be over. But for now, he'd milk it, knowing if the tables were turned, Gabe definitely would be.

His hands curled around the sandy-haired man's shoulders gently, feeling the muscles underneath tense for half a second before they melted entirely into his touch. The archangel was pliant, submitting to him. That wasn't lost on Sam at all.

"Yes. Our thing." He locked eyes with the rich golden hues that were completely otherworldly and beyond all comprehension. "Where you make some overtly sexually suggestive thing like the relentless sexual deviant you are, and I roll my eyes at you, pretending to be annoyed when I secretly enjoy your attention." The second he saw it, the words hitting Gabe, and the archangel recognizing his declaration for what it was, he pulled back sharply and stood up. He brushed off the heavenly being's low groan of protest expertly. "Roz!" he called out, knowing she was likely somewhere nearby. She seemed to be usually. He needed to do this now. He had his answer.

A second later, the dark-haired younger woman appeared in the room with her arms crossed in extreme annoyance. She was wearing tight black jeans with her familiar boots sticking out from underneath the flared pant legs and a low-cut navy tank top with a black leather jacket half-zipped up to just below her breasts.

"Yes, Supreme Cockblocker?" she remarked dryly, lazily turning to glance at him as if he were a pest on the bottom of her boot. She then pulled back slightly at whatever she saw before she glanced at her older brother in surprise. "Wait a minute." Her dark eyes flitted back to Sam. "Are you fucking kidding me? Now?! You—Oh, _Sam_!" she growled prior to throwing her hands up and hissing something Enochian under her breath. Her eyes snapped back to him with a flash of Grace flaring up. "You seriously fucking picked now?!" She then scoffed. "Of fucking course you did!"

"If you're busy—"

She poked her finger at him and growled. "Don't you even start with me, Sam Winchester! I am so not in the mood right now for your idiocy!" She then huffed loudly before she stomped across the room towards them. "You are not going to ruin my goddamn night!"

"Rozlyn," murmured Gabriel in his softest, tenderest big brother voice. Sam had never heard him sounding so—this before.

"Don't you 'Rozlyn' me, jackass," she snapped, turning her righteous fury onto her older brother. "One night! One goddamn night free of you assholes! And you couldn't even let me have that, could you?"

"We missed you?" Gabe drawled with a languid shrug, obviously wanting to rile her up more.

Her hands clapped down hard onto their shoulders a second later.

Sam felt the sudden burn to his chest from her touch before the flicker of pain vanished again.

"There. You're welcome. Now leave me the fuck alone," she grouched, raising her fingers to snap herself away again.

"Aren't you going to ask—"

"No!"

"Seriously?" Gabe asked with a scoff. "You, the hopeless romantic, isn't the least bit curious—"

"Gabriel," she groaned petulantly, turning back to him. "I have a meeting I have to get to! A very important one. And he doesn't like to be kept waiting." She then crossed her arms again. "So, forgive me, but we can discuss how you both got your fucking heads out of your asses later! All right?"

"Who's your meeting with?"

Sam instantly winced, half-expecting her to attack Gabriel right then. He had seen her upset with her big brother before, but the archangel was definitely smashing all of her buttons at once right now for some reason. Unable to help himself, he lightly rested a hand against the sandy-haired man's forearm and shook his head at him.

"None of your damn business. That's who," she replied snottily. "Any other stupid questions?"

"Only one."

"Gabe, no," Sam groaned. "Let her go to her meeting." He felt his heart stop when he caught the other man's look. Oh no.

"Why do you smell like sulfur?"

Hazel eyes blinked before he instinctively inhaled, catching the slight hint of it as well. Gabe was right. It did smell like— He joined the archangel in staring at her soon after. What was she doing?

Roz death-glared both of them before she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. You want the truth?" She shrugged flippantly. "You two idiots just pulled me from a rather intense make-out session with Mikahail, my on-again/off-again fuck buddy demon whom I used to have meetings with on behalf of Heaven." More words tumbled out quickly. "I don't anymore because Duma, the bitch, thinks I'm emotionally compromised or some such fucking garbage like that."

Sam's mouth dropped. He glanced towards Gabriel, noticing the archangel staring in horror at her. He winced, glancing down awkwardly. A demon and an angel? Well, it wasn't unheard of actually. In fact, Cas and Meg were pretty— He caught a flicker of irritation surge through him unexpectedly.

"A demon?" Gabe repeated slowly. It was almost as if he was holding himself back by a thread of self-control somehow.

"Yes, Gabriel. A demon." Roz met his intense look, not flinching in the slightest. "I figured if Cas could kiss a—"

"You're not Castiel!"

"Yeah. I know. Thank Dad for that," she drawled sarcastically. "I mean, I'd have hated to have that stick shoved so far up my ass for years, only to have it loosen after falling for a human like Dean Winchester."

"Rozlyn—" snarled the archangel with cracks of energy coming off him. His control was starting to slip unfortunately.

"You don't get to say anything to me, Gabriel! You lost that right when you ran."

Like a taut line, Sam felt something snap back suddenly deep within himself. He glanced towards the archangel and noticed the crumpled look on the other man's face. Gabe looked utterly gutted by that comment.

"I'm not running, Roz," the heavenly brother replied back a moment later.

"This time, sure." She waved him off. "What's to stop you from running again? Hmm? Sam?" She motioned towards the long-haired hunter. "After all, if Cas couldn't—"

"You never needed me!" Gabe shouted back, flying to his feet. "Never! Not once in all our time together. So, what is this? You being jealous?"

Sam winced, sighing inwardly as his head hung. This was going spectacularly well.

"I never needed you?" The younger angel scoffed loudly, rearing back. "Oh, you—Gabriel, you were too in love with your perfect little brother Castiel to see the rest of us. And you know what? That's not just me thinking that. Balthazar thinks it too. He's just too polite or whatever the fuck it is to say anything. But this line of bullshit that I didn't need you?" She flipped the strand of hair that had come loose back with a huff. "Well, you know what? You're right. I don't need you right now. I'll figure this out like I figured everything else out. On my own. You taught me that."

"Figure what out? You and the demon?"

"His name is Mikhail, Gabriel! If I can show your dumbass boyfriend respect, the least of all you can fucking do is muster up some for mine!"

Gabe's eyes darted to Sam instantly with a 'You caught that, right?' look. Boyfriend? That was a far cry from on-again, off-again friends with benefits demon she claimed earlier.

"Roz—"

Her shoulders hunched up, and her eyes glared murderously. Sam watched her for a few more moments before he glanced at Gabe and shook his head. She needed a moment. Clearly. They needed not to— Damn it, Gabe!

"Wait. So, you like this demon? As in . . . it's not just a sexual thing with him?"

Sam groaned, glancing upwards. How did this go so very wrong? He should have just left Roz out of it and left the damn arrow thing for later. This was as bad as when he had lost the rabbit's foot with the whole Bela saga, but instead of losing a shoe, he was going to lose a hot-headed archangel.

"I don't know!" she screamed, throwing her hands up. "It's not like Dad left us a fucking manual on this free will shit. Like, I enjoy being with him, sure." She started pace in front of them wildly. "He makes me laugh. He holds me and tells me sweet fucking crap when I'm wanting to murder you. So, recently, that's a lot lately. Like now. In fact, he's the reason I'm here—because he said I'd regret it if I ignored Sam's stupid summoning me like a damn dog. But I don't know. I don't—" Her voice started to tremble as her words came out frantically. "But I know it's against his nature. I do! He's a demon for Lucifer's sake. I'm an angel! It's fucking complicated! They're our enemies. They want to kill us. But—he's—I mean, fuck! Who even knows if demons were meant to be our enemies in the first place? Maybe Lucifer just wanted them for friends or something. Heaven only knows how alone he was. Plus, it's not like we can be really certain on anything considering how Dad's a fucking sadistic son of a bitch who wants to break all of us for the hell of it like some fucking psychopath!"

"Roz," Gabe murmured, stepping towards his spiraling little sister again.

"But, you know, I like the person I-I am when I'm with him. Like you with Sam! And isn't that—I don't know—isn't that the whole point of this fucking mess? Right?"

Sam glanced at her suddenly when her voice muffled. He watched Gabe wrap his little sister into a warm embrace, holding her tightly. He caught the amber eyes darting to him a second later and the silent apology mouthed to him. As if he was the one Gabe needed to apologize to here.

"Do you want me to give you two a minute alone?" Sam asked quietly, shifting his weight.

"No," Roz muffled back, her face nuzzled into her big brother's clavicle. "You can stay."

Forcing his smile, the man nodded awkwardly. All right then. He wasn't sure why she wanted him to stay, but he'd stay for her then. His eyes narrowed when he felt a rush of protectiveness and fondness flood him suddenly. Where the hell was that coming from? It was almost as if they weren't his. He then winced, figuring it out. Oh. Yeah that made sense he supposed. Somehow, he could feel Gabe's feelings now. Probably a result of the Cupid's arrow she had placed onto them if he had to guess.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?" He glanced back at the siblings, his eyes narrowing when he caught both of their looks.

Gabe's eyes bore deeply into his soul. "Could you maybe not think so loudly right now please? It's sort of distracting to me, my Sam-ilicious."

"Ugh. And moment over," Roz mumbled, pulling herself back sharply. She glanced from Gabe to Sam. "For the record, though, I am happy you two got your heads of your asses. I've always been Team Sabriel. Your chemistry is fucking amazing, and the lines you two have— It's the fluffiest damn stuff I've ever seen. And I do want to know how it came to be. I just . . ."

"Want to be with your demon lover. Got it," the older heavenly brother replied with a slight grimace, clearly still not okay with it but respecting her choice—or rather pretending to for the moment. "But, Roz," he said quietly, gently grabbing her face, "I want to meet him."

"What?"

"I want to meet this . . . Mikhail."

"Why?"

Sam felt the corners of his lips turn upwards as he observed. _Yeah, Gabe, why?_ He caught the whiskey eyes darting to him instantly and smirked back.

Roz then bristled. "Tell me this isn't going to be another instance of you trying to assert your dominance. Because I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," Gabriel stated, dropping his hands to his sides. "I just want to, you know, make sure he knows I know about him now. Have a nice big brother-to-boyfriend talk."

"And?"

"No 'and."

She rolled her eyes hard. "I'll bring it up with him. Now, is there anything else? Or may I go?"

"You've got protection, right?"

The human instantly blinked. Did Gabriel seriously just ask—

"Yes, Gabe. Honestly." She pulled her slender blade out of her jacket a second later. "Happy?"

Sam bit his cheek hard not to burst out laughing. What the hell was it with angels for thinking that was what was meant all the time?

"Ecstatic," remarked the sandy-haired angel dryly. His eyes darted to her when she cupped his cheek tenderly.

"You're sweet. But I'll be fine. Trust me. And if I'm not, then I'll reach out to you and you can gloat about—"

"I don't want to gloat," he argued with a frown. "I want to make sure you're okay."

The hunter felt himself fill with warmth and happiness and pride at the words. He wouldn't deny that Gabe proved he was a good big brother at times. Because these moments showed it.

She laughed softly and shook her head, lowering her hand. "Gabe, just fuck Sam already. Please. Give the people what they want. Really." She then glanced at the hunter whose moth dropped and was staring at her with wide eyes and a slightly reddened face. "Oh, and, before I forget, do _you boys_ have protection?" She snapped her fingers a millisecond later with a giggle, vanishing from the room.

Sam's mind instantly blanked as he tried to figure out what just happened. It was so . . .

"For the record," spoke up the shorter man as he approached slowly "I do."

Because of course that dick had to make that remark. "Your angel blade doesn't count, Gabe."

"I'm not talking about my blade, Sam," the archangel replied neutrally with a shrug.

"Wait." Sam's head snapped towards him. "You mean you have condoms?"

The angel raised a brow. "Um, you don't?"

"Uh, well, no, I do." His eyes instinctively went to his top dresser drawer. "I just . . . really?"

"Really." Gabe then snorted. "I also have some lube and some sex toys probably. Lots of porn. Some of it featuring yours truly. But you've seen my work." He then raked his eyes slowly over Sam's tall form before a smirk grew on the angel's face. "I like sex. I'm not ashamed of admitting it." He hooked a thumb into his pocket, looking utterly relaxed. "Why? Is that going to be a problem?"

"No. I just thought—I mean—" Sam winced, glancing down at his feet as he shifted awkwardly. He knew that. Obviously, he knew that. He could feel his cheeks redden more as he recalled _Casa Erotica._ Of course, that brought up an entirely different problem. But why would an archangel need condoms? At the sound of the low chuckles nearby, he glanced back down. "Shut up."

"You're so adorable when you're flustered," Gabriel snorted with a cocky grin and sparkling champagne-colored eyes. "For the record, though, the answer you're looking here for is that I have them not for myself but my partners. Remember? Archangel here? This is just my sexy vessel? I'm actually a pretty hot multi-dimensional wavelength being full of energy and—"

"Keep it up, and I'll call her back to break—"

"Nope! No take backs!" the former Trickster declared, leaning towards him. His hands pressed firmly against Sam's chest slowly pushing upwards to his shoulders. "You're stuck with me now, I'm afraid. Until end of time, oh, future bond mate of mine."

"Damn," Sam deadpanned, snapping his fingers. "I knew there was a catch." He could feel Gabriel's warmth again and smelled that familiar scent of candy and dirt mixed with pine trees that he associated with the angel. He couldn't help but lean in further, wanting more of that intoxicatingly weird—was that—

Relying on his baser instincts that suddenly roared with life and left his brain miles behind, he gently pulled the shorter man closer even still, bending down to meet him before lightly brushing his lips over Gabe's. He felt the angel slump against him almost instantly in response. His hand came up to pull the archangel even closer, quickly escalating their kiss to an almost desperate version. He lost himself soon after, slowly walking them back as he tasted the hint of bourbon on the man's lips.

"Sam," sighed contently the mighty fierce warrior of God, the word almost spoken so reverently, so lovingly.

The hunter breathed him in deeply, grunting when they both fell back onto Gabe's bed. It was a shorter walk than he had anticipated. Pulling back and chuckling at the man's low whine of protest, he smiled down at him and shook his head before he quickly unbuttoned his flannel and tossed it somewhere off to his left, showing off his bare chest proudly. He molded back against Gabriel, snorting unexpectedly when the angel's fingers brushed over a ticklish spot above his fifth rib. He caught the angel's brief pause before he felt Gabe's shit-eating grin take over. Oh no. He needed to distract him!

Sam's hands quickly flew to angel's pants as he deepened their kiss, tasting more of the smoky alcohol on his lips. His fingers had just found—

"Mmph!" grunted the hunter against Gabe when he suddenly found himself on his back instead when the archangel flipped them over. Damn superhuman strength. A moment later, he dissolved into a fit of laughter as the nimble fingers attacked relentlessly against the ticklish spot. "Gaaaaabe," he howled with laughter, trying to roll away from him. "Stoooop!" Only they'd go from making out to a tickle war. They were utterly ridiculous. And Sam loved every part of it.

When he felt the kisses against his neck, he squirmed more, snorting soon after when he felt Gabe marking him as his. He'd get such shit from Dean later if he saw the marks. Well, if the angel wasn't going to play fair . . . Squeezing his eyes closed tightly, he thought back to the smuttiest fic he could think of that he had ever read. It unfortunately had to be one set in the _Casa Erotica_ storyline for some strange reason, but he knew it would have made even Balthazar and Dean blush horribly over it.

"_Did somebody order the Angel food cake with extra whipped cream and strawberries—"_

Within seconds, Sam found himself go from extremely aroused to confused when the familiar intense heat suddenly vanished and was replaced by startling cold. He reopened his eyes and frowned when he noticed that the archangel standing a few feet from him now in the middle of the room, breathing heavily and running a hand through his hair.

"Gabe?" He quickly sat up on his elbows and stared at him. "Are you okay?" Was the man having a panic attack or something? It certainly looked close to one.

"Yep." The archangel's voice cracked, however.

"You want to tell me what's going on?"

Gabe made a face before he reluctantly met Sam's eyes. "I, um—that is—I really want to." He nodded fervently with a strangled, albeit absolutely terrified, smile.

"But?" Sam instantly sat up the rest of the way and pushed himself up off the bed before he strode towards him. He could see the skittishness, wondering if Gabe would run. Gabe's Grace flickered to life again before it was quickly suppressed, and the blown thin amber returned.

"I can't. I'm sorry. I just . . . I . . ." The archangel held his hands up placatingly, taking a step back when Sam neared. "Believe me. It's not you. Fuck, Sam, it is _so_ not you."

Sam paused for half a step. "Then what is it?"

"I, um, well, that is, I . . ." Gabriel groaned loudly all at once, tugging on his hair a second later. His shoulders slumped dejectedly. "I promised myself that if we got to this—" He lifted his gaze back up. "Sam, I—I always do this. I never wait. I just—" He clapped his hands together loudly. "Boom, I'm in bed. No dinner. No movie. No long walk. No goodnight kiss. Nothing but my lover and I making sweet love—all right—fine—fucking, just full on fucking until sunrise." He exaggerated his sigh. "And then I leave. I . . . I don't know how to . . . that is . . . and you . . ."

Sam laughed gently and grabbed the angel's hands, getting the gist of what was being admitted. "In other words, instead of all your past experiences of just skipping right to the screwing around, you want the full experience this time with me. An actual date you mean."

Gabe grimaced and reluctantly nodded, clearly hating himself over it.

"That's—" The younger man stopped himself and laughed awkwardly, releasing one of Gabe's hands to scratch at the nape of his neck lightly. "That's sweet of you." He bent forward and gently kissed the archangel's cheek. He told himself it was only so he could whisper the following, but he knew it wasn't. "But if you're doing it on my account because you think you're going to scare me off, well, Gabe, hate to break it to you, but I already know your dirty little secret." He caught the confused look. "That you are a perpetual sex fiend who would make Tony Stark blush most days."

The angel blinked instantly. "Wait. We talkin' comic book Tony or RDJ Tony here?"

Sam snorted, turning away. "You decide." He bent down and grabbed his discarded flannel from the floor, trying his best not to laugh in disappointment. The one time he was ready was the one Gabe wasn't. It figured. He glanced back, meeting the remorseful gaze. "What do you say to dinner tomorrow night?" He caught the flicker of surprise and smirked. "Good. I'll meet you at 7." Sam then did his best Gabriel leer, secretly enjoying the archangel's quick swallow and widening eyes in response. My, how the tables have turned. "Wear something nice. And maybe if you're lucky, well . . ." His voice trailed off suggestively before he brushed past. The grin engulfed his entire face as he stepped into the hallway. Without a doubt, he knew if he looked back, Gabe would be a stuttering mess. His work here was done.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm thinking we might have one or possibly two chapters left. Depends on the boys. Until next time.


	6. Date Night

**A/N:** Hello, lovelies. I've been slaving away on this since the last update. My bunnies admittedly got away from me, and it took me 20 hours to outline all the stories before this one to make sure I answered 90% of my plot divergences I started but never elaborated. That said, this was a labor of love. Let me tell you. However, I think you'll enjoy it wholeheartedly if you're a Sabriel fan.

Some inspiration came from Tumblr users SoftieSabriel's post on Sam's reaction if Gabe returned in Season 14 (that shirt and look-haha), dhsyweirdo's after s.e.x. gif (lol), and several officialSamWinchester posts, mysweetshop's cute loving post of Sabriel with Gabe on top, retrouvel's sweet fanart, and so many others. It's probably why it took me so long to write this as I went down the Sabriel Tumblr rabbit hole for inspiration at times.

I know there are three large questions that I didn't answer in this final chapter, but they're for the next fic. :) Also, Gabe **does have a moment of, shall we say, dark thoughts**. So, fair warning on that, but they're fairly similar to thoughts Dean and Sam (even Cas) have had in the show. As always, enjoy and thank you so much for taking the time to read my fic. Please stay safe and healthy. Until next time.

**Date Night**

Glancing off to his left, Sam swallowed down his nerves at seeing the time. 6:35. Twenty-five minutes until his date with Gabriel. His heart instantly leapt up into his throat at that. There wasn't enough time. He should have . . . something. This was not going—what the hell was he thinking? He was going to screw this up somehow. He just was. There was no question about it. He'd do something, and they'd regret this. He'd end up screwing up his friendship with the angel and hurt him and—

A knock at his door stopped his rambling thoughts at once.

Hazel eyes darted to it and frowned, unsure if he should answer the door or just continue to stare at it some more. He was leaning towards staring at it. Gabe was early. Crap. He winced and glanced upwards before he looked once more at the mirror and quickly ran his fingers through his hair, giving it a slight fluffier look. He then glanced at the white button-down shirt he was wearing and grimaced some more. Maybe he should have worn the blue-and-red plaid instead. It worked better with these jeans.

"Sammy, come on. Stop fucking around with your hair and let me in," groused his brother from the other side of the locked door.

He let out a loud, relieved sigh, the tension rolling from his broad shoulders. Thank fucking whatever it was nowadays. The tall hunter took a half-step to his side and twisted his body to unlock and open his door with one hand before he stepped back in front of the small mirror, adjusting his collar for the hundredth time. It wouldn't be the first time his brother watched him get ready for a date.

Dean walked in a second later, snorting at him with a shake of his head.

"You two idiots deserve each other, I swear," his older brother remarked before he threw himself into a chair leaning back and sprawling out.

Sam met his brother's look in the mirror and frowned. What the hell did that mean?

"Hot Wings is in my room currently panicking too," Dean explained with a light tone. When Sam's brows furrowed more, Dean rolled his eyes. "Your damn angel's been talking to mine most of the night with Balthazar trying like hell to drag him away before I gank his ass."

"Gabe's been . . ." His voice trailed off as he shook his head. "So, why are you here then?"

"Because the damn asshole kicked me out of my own fucking room. That's why. Legit snapped his fingers and kicked me out."

Sam stared at him for a moment with scrunched up eyes of disbelief. "Okay . . . so walk back in there." Seriously. It wasn't that difficult to do.

"Gee, bitch, now why didn't I think of that?" Green eyes rolled before his brother pushed himself up with a loud scoff and strode over with pinched lips. He batted away Sam's hands when the younger tried to push his hands from his collar. "Oh, that's right. I did. Only it didn't work because your asshole decided to put some funky woo-doo crap on my room. Every time I open the door, it opens to another stupid universe." Dean forcibly turned him a second later, which Sam bit back his annoyed sigh and allowed. He hated it when his brother got all fussy over him like this.

"You realize I'm thirty-six, not twelve anymore, right?"

"Oh, shut it, Samantha," his brother huffed, meeting his bitchy look with his own. "Of course I realize that. I just . . ." Dean exhaled quietly, his posture sagging a bit. His voice lowered with his eyes as he admitted, "I need this distraction, all right? So, let me have it without your bitching for once."

Sam conceded and bowed his head. "Next time you and Cas have a date, though—"

"I'm yours, got it." Dean pressed his tongue against his right cheek before he pulled back. "Wait. Seriously, man?"

"What?" Sam's eyes narrowed. He then caught in the mirror the exposed mark Gabe had left on his neck. A small smile graced his lips at the memory as he glanced down bashfully. "Like you don't have any fucking marks from Cas, jerk." The second he caught Dean's pained look, his smile fell. "Oh, shit. I—"

His brother raised a hand and shook his head sharply. "Stop. It's fine. You didn't know."

"Yeah, but—"

"Sam," Dean pleaded, his eyes catching his brother's. "Please." He then shook his head again. "It's just not in the card's right now. Maybe once we figure out what's going on with Cas this time, sure, but right now, I'm just going to, you know, be there for him when I can. That is when his asshole fucking dick of a brother isn't having a stupid panic attack in my damn room going on about how he's going to ruin everything and acting like the damn sky is falling over a damn date."

"Is he really panicking?" Sam asked with a gentle chuckle, imagining it. They really did deserve one another if they were both panicking over the same thing.

"Like a fucking chick I swear," Dean replied dryly. "It's seriously ridiculous, but it's distracting the hell out of Cas, so" he shrugged "what can I do?"

The younger nodded curtly. "How is he today?"

His brother's eyes immediately darted from him, which Sam knew his brother needed to do in order to answer that.

"He's Cas." Dean then closed his eyes for a moment before he continued. "I mean, I got him to sleep for about an hour or two, though, before Gabe showed up and then Balthazar. But . . . damn angel's still terrified of something. He wakes up sweating, gasping for air, and shaking horribly."

Sam glanced down at his feet then and nodded slowly.

"But he wants to talk. I can see that. He just doesn't know how. So, I'm just going to keep being patient and wait like he does with me and hope to—whatever—he trusts me again with whatever this fucking thing is." The deep green then snapped back to Sam before Dean scoffed, clearly just noticing something. "Why the white shirt, Sammy? Why not the blue-and-red plaid one? You look better in it."

He raised a brow. "I look better in that than the white one?" he repeated skeptically.

His older brother rolled his eyes in reply. "Fine. Your asshole is wearing white, okay?"

Sam gave him a classic bitch face. "You know, you can call him by his name. I call Cas by his."

"That's different."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Course it is." His brother's lips quirked upwards. "Cause Cas is a fucking BAMF."

Sam burst out laughing. "Been reading some fanfic, have we?"

He shrugged. "It's not all bad. Some of that smut is—"

"Yeah, okay." The towering Winchester snorted, shaking his head.

"What? I mean, come on. Have you read some of this stuff?" He half-shrugged. "They once did the whole Zorro fantasy I had. It was awesome. Oh, and they did a whole thing on our Dodge City stuff after Cas returned from the Empty. Cowboy boots, hat, the works."

He should have known. "In other words, you're using it as porn."

"Yeah. Course I am. What else am I supposed to use it for?"

He chuckled. "Well, at least you're embracing it, I guess, instead of getting bitchy over it."

"Eh, I wasn't sold on it at first, but I was talking to Cas about it, why he reads it you know. He changed my mind and made me take myself out of the equation on it. And really . . . it taught me something about angels too that no freaking lore book ever has."

"Oh?" Sam raised a brow.

"Yeah. There's an author Cas likes, Cas'sKickassLittleSister—"

Sam doubled over laughing raucously instantly, which earned a fierce glower from his brother.

"Dude! What the hell?"

"That's Roz, Dean," the younger said through fits of laughter. "That's her pseudonym."

"Seriously?" His brother thought on it for a moment and shrugged carelessly not long after. "Well, she taught me about the whole intimacy crap angels need. Plus, she writes fucking hot shit."

"Yeah. I know." He rolled his eyes when he caught his brother's brow raise. "I may have occasionally read some of her Sabriel stuff, okay?" Or a few thousand, but who was counting really?

"Well, her flair is on Destiel, so, you know, fuck you and the Winged Dick. Cas and I win."

Sam scoffed, chuckling. "Whatever. You keep telling yourself that." He patted his brother's arm. "Because Gabe and I are hands down the best. Seriously. Our chemistry is—"

"Full of what to do if you want to end up in a human resources training session, sure. Cas and I are a love that transcends, though. The ultimate enemies-to-lovers trope. Like, you know, _Beauty and the Beast_ shit. Or, hell, _Love Actually _or any Hallmark movie that has that guy from those State Farm ads."

"The one you swear looks like Ketch?"

"Yeah, that one."

Hazel eyes rolled before Sam glanced at the clock. He instantly felt his blood pressure rise. 6:50. Ten minutes until his date. Oh no. He wasn't ready.

"Kid, it'll be fine," His older brother scoffed beside him, gently hitting his chest with the back of his hand. "You could honestly show up in a fucking clown suit, and that asshole would probably—"

"Yeah, thanks for that," Sam interrupted, knowing exactly where his brother was going with that statement. But did the dick have to mention clowns? "Is it so wrong of me to want this perfect, though?"

"Nah. But you're putting a lot of unnecessary stress on yourself. And when you get stressed out, you start to do weird shit." He held his hands up. "Hey, I'm just looking out for you, man. That's all. I'd hate for you to lean in to kiss that dick only to, you know, sneeze in his face or fart or something."

Sam stared at his brother for a full moment before he scoffed. "Fuck you, asshole."

His brother chuckled in return, though. "Just remember to be stretched properly before—"

"Dean!" His brother was dying laughing, though. As if Sam was even thinking about sex right now. It was a first date, not the third or fourth. "Go back to your angel, jerk."

"Only if you fucking get yours first, bitch, so mine can finally sleep."

He rolled his eyes, eventually laughing with him. He had him there. As long as Gabe was around, distractions would be as well. It was rather endearing in a way. And he was glad that Cas had someone other than Dean and him nowadays to talk to, to be around. Maybe it'd help the angel sort out whatever this was.

"Hey?" he said a few minutes later when a thought occurred to him.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if Cas told you or his brothers, but—"

Dean sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know, Sammy. Cas and I talked about it."

"Yeah?"

His brother laughed dryly. "He's honest about that at least." He shrugged dismissively. "They took him out flying the other night. He's missed it, I guess, and he thought it might help him or something because he used to enjoy it with them in the past. So, he agreed." He met Sam's hazel eyes. "Only when he got in the air, it hit him that, you know, he's mortal now. Once they figured out he was having a problem, they brought him back and tried to calm him, but . . ." Dean's hand waved aimlessly. "We're made for one another too obviously. I'm afraid of losing him, and he's afraid to leave me."

The taller brother watched his older silently, wishing he knew the magic words to fix this. There weren't any, though. So, he'd have to do the one thing his brother craved the most. He turned his body again and embraced Dean, feeling his brother first tense like usual before he accepted the hug.

"It'll get better." It had to.

Dean huffed a sarcastic chuckle. "I wish I had your faith, Sammy."

"Have faith in Cas then. Like you usually do." He caught his brother's faint ghost of a smile before his brother shrugged and pulled back.

"We're a couple of dumbasses. What can I say?" He then shook his head. "Seriously, though, blue-and-red plaid, not that one. You never wear white on a first date."

"What? Since when?" Sam scoffed but moved away to grab the discarded shirt from where he had previously thrown it. After all, if Gabe was wearing white anyway, it made sense not to.

"Since, like, ever. Think about the stains you'll get all over it. Because, face it, kid. You get messy as shit when you're nervous. You always have been."

"Like you don't," the younger threw back, rolling his eyes.

"Never said I didn't, but I look better in darker colors, which hides the stains better." He then grimaced. "You need to relax. Just breathe. Ain't as if you two are ending up in bed on the first date."

"What?" Sam's head whipped towards his brother, his hair flaring out like a Loreal ad.

"Oh, I heard all about it," his older brother teased with an easy smile. "How you got rejected by him after practically throwing yourself at him. Desperation ain't a good look on you, Sammy."

"Shut up."

"He was lamenting to Cas about it, how hard it was to fight his urges." Dean groaned, exaggerating it loudly. "I swear the damn dick does it on purpose. As if I want to hear that shit."

"You could always do it back to him, you know."

"Yeah, I could, but then knowing my luck, the asshole would say something back and—yeah, no. I'm just going to stop right there."

Sam snorted. "Why don't you try and have a nice date with Cas? It'd distract both of you."

"Believe me. I've asked. He keeps saying no."

A head tilt later, his brow raised again. "Wait. Cas is saying no to a date?" That surely had to be a sign of an apocalypse. Cas usually jumped at the chance to do anything with Dean regardless of whatever it was. And with the angel having read as much fanfic as he had, he had to understand the whole importance of having a date.

"I know! It's super weird, right?" his brother shrugged, practically bursting that someone else agreed with him. "I've tried other stuff with him, too, but . . . I don't know. And we've talked about it. Well, okay, _I've_ talked to him about it, which is so not my thing but I'm trying to communicate better. Anyway, he keeps telling me he loves me, but like the minute we get hot and heavy, he's flying from me like I got some deadly disease or something." Oh. "Something's working on him. That's for sure. I don't know what because he's fucking stubborn as shit, but I think it's why he won't sleep or, you know, engage in 'coitus' with me or whatever the fuck he'd use if he'd say it."

He snorted at his brother's imitation of the angel. "It could be worse."

"How?"

"You could be dating the Angel of Karma Sutra," he drawled with a grin.

Green eyes rolled with a loud snort. "Yeah, you got me there. You can keep him. I love my Sexually Inexperienced!Cas. It's going to make things ten times hotter when we finally work through whatever this shit is, and he enjoys things again."

Chuckling, Sam then glanced at the clock, his eyes widening when he saw that it was 7:10.

"Fuck!" He fluffed his hair once more to give it a more natural wind-swept look and then smelled himself to make sure he wasn't smelling like a musky skunk or anything. Finding both satisfactory, he turned away and rushed out the door.

"Go get him, Samantha," Dean called after him, snickering.

Hazel eyes glanced upwards in annoyance, but Sam said nothing, rushing towards Gabe's room. Because Gabe would have gone back to his room, wouldn't he have? Ugh. He could see it now. He'd be spending half of their date trying to find the archangel. He quickly forced his annoyance and fear aside once outside of Gabe's room, staring at the closed door. Finding it closed had to be a good sign, right?

He then paused with his hand closed into a fist above the door. He could do this. He totally could. It was just two guys who cared for one another enjoying a nice evening together. Though, he also knew that he had been an idiot and bonded them before doing this step so who knew how that would mess things up. What if he said something and it offended Gabe, who then decided he wanted to break their bond or— Yep. Yep. Deep breaths. Deep fucking breaths. He was spiraling. His eyes closed for half a second before he gently knocked against the middle just underneath the numbers and waited.

It felt like a lifetime passed before Gabe finally opened his door. Sam's eyes widened. There stood Gabriel slightly disheveled as if he had gotten dressed in a hurry. His white button-up shirt was halfway untucked and horribly wrinkled, and his jeans were partly zipped up with the belt undone still.

"Uh . . ."

Of all the ways he had imagined this, this never crossed his mind once.

Gabe forced an awkward smile and nodded jerkily. "Yeah, I know. My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard." He winked flirtingly before he turned away, finishing getting dressed. His belt jingled lightly as he fastened it and turned back to grab something from the desk beside him, breath mints Sam noted. "Sorry about that." He still looked horribly uneasy and very unlike himself. "Shall we, oh—" His voice squeaked unexpectedly before he cleared his throat. "Sorry. Not sure what happened there."

"Is everything okay?" He looked the shorter man over, finding more and more alarming signs that something was seriously not right here. Since when did Gabe look this nervous? And was he . . . sweating? Angels didn't sweat. Under any circumstances according to Cas. "What did you do?"

Amber eyes darted to the floor with another wince before the slightly wavy-haired archangel drug his hand lightly against his nape, hanging his head dejectedly.

"Gabe?" Oh no. What did he do?

"You weren't supposed to find out this early," mumbled the man with a sigh. "It was going to be a surprise for the second act."

History proved that was never a good sign when he heard those words. "What's going on?" He tried to ignore the slight flush to Gabe's cheek, but he couldn't fully. He had never seen the archangel this human looking before.

"I'm suppressing my Grace currently." Gabe then raised his hands as if he expected Sam to freak out over this. "But it's only for the next 12 hours, so I'll be fine tomorrow, but . . ." The sandy-haired man shrugged lightly, relaxing his pose minutely. "Surprise?" he said lamely.

"You're suppressing—_why_?" Hazel eyes widened. What the hell?

The former Trickster answered matter-of-factly, "Because I'm an archangel, and you're a human." As if that explained everything somehow, which it didn't. At all.

Sam stared at him for a few moments before he scoffed finally. "I don't know how to make this clearer to you, idiot, but I don't want you to change." He really didn't.

"I know that," the angel replied with a faint smile. "But _I_ needed to level the playing field, Sam. It's more for me than you really."

"Why?"

Gabe laughed shortly and shrugged. "Because the absolute power goes to my head sometimes and I, well . . ." His eyes, a deeper whiskey color than usual, fell to his feet for a second as he rubbed the back of his neck again. He took another moment, which Sam waited patiently during, and then quietly admitted with a reluctant gaze, "I don't trust myself around you right now not to take advantage."

Huh? He didn't trust himself around Sam? The hunter watched the ancient being in front of him and took note of Gabe's hunched shoulders. He was lowering his defenses and showing his vulnerability yet again to the human, and it was scaring the hell out of him likely.

"Gabriel?"

The rich sparkling eyes glanced upwards instantly with no hesitation this time.

He offered him a kind smile as he pondered his reply. He needed to let him know somehow that— He gently reached forward and placed a hand on Gabe's shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"Thank you." He caught the angel's immediate puzzlement and pushed on. "For telling me that. I know it's out of your norm." His heart constricted when he saw the flicker of sadness sweep over the angel's face. "But, Gabe, I want—no scratch that—I _need_ you to know I trust you. I do. Maybe not in the beginning, but that was long ago, and you've shown that you're not the same person you were. You've grown."

The angel nodded shakily and glanced away as he breathed in deeply.

Sam's hand fell to his side again, and he took a step back to give him some air. They weren't the same anymore, and it was important he recognized that. He then gave a quiet chuckle at a thought that crossed his mind, which drew the otherworldly amber orbs back to him.

"Sorry. I just— what exactly is it that you don't trust yourself over?" The long-haired man flashed him what he hoped was his best disarming dimpled, sweet smile. "Like, are you afraid of hurting me accidentally or forcing me to do something I don't want to do or—"

The archangel stared at him for a moment. "You really want to know?"

"Yes." He wouldn't have asked if he didn't.

The other man's rosy cheeks puffed up and then his lips blew out all the air like he was blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. "All right. Might as well." He ran a hand through his light hair, which made parts stick up wildly. "If I had my powers, I'd whisk you far from this damn bunker, probably some tropical place like Sandals Turks and Caicos or some resort like that, and then I'd wine and dine you. Only the best for my moose. Do my damn hardest to show you the world."

Sam's lip twitched as he fought back the amused smile while he listened.

"And then . . . when I was convinced that I had you completely and undoubtedly mine, I'd snap my fingers and lay you down in a bed of roses . . . or something. I haven't decided yet." He then shrugged as he thought on it. "Then again, that might be a bad idea, but the song made it sound cool. Whatever." Gabe waved his hand absent-mindedly and continued with his answer. "And I'd snap my fingers again to stop time before I'd take you apart slowly, lovingly, and give you everything I had to make you mine forever. To worship you like the beautiful soul you are."

All thoughts ceased instantly. Wide hazel stared back with a slackened jaw. Several thin creases were etched into Sam's forehead as his brows were raised. Sam could feel the urge to cough become more and more imminent as he continued holding his breath in complete shock. His eyes darted to the left and then the right before they circled back to the archangel in front of him who obviously wasn't noticing Sam's reaction in the slightest.

"Without my powers and Grace and all that fun stuff," Gabe shrugged with his eyes downcast on the floor, still not seeing Sam's shock, "I can't do any of that, so I'm forced to be me, just a de-powered version of me. A depowered!Gabriel or human!Gabriel to use AO3 tags." He laughed humorlessly. "Though, this is making it sort of a bitch to reign in my emotions since I can't use my Grace to suppress them like usual, but I like challenges." His eyes then slowly raised as he added, "I mean, instead of all that, I only have to deal with, well, not shoving you against that fucking wall and jamming my tongue down your throat. Or tossing you against the bed and grinding hard against your—" He then stopped suddenly and flinched violently when he finally saw Sam's opened mouth and saucer eyes. "Too much honesty. Yeah. I figured. Sorry." His eyes fell back to the floor with a heavy sigh. He shifted his weight clumsily. "But you asked," he reminded bleakly.

"Yes." The word effortlessly rolled off Sam's tongue as he rasped it. As if there was no other answer but that. And there really wasn't. Not after that kind of declaration, after that kind of— Only Gabriel could dissolve all his thoughts at once like that. While he had already accepted the angel enough to finish their bond, it was the way the angel said it, so resolute, so honest, so fucking hot, so . . _him_. "Yes," he breathed back, gasping and trying to hold back the pleading in his voice. "Yes."

They didn't need to eat dinner. Hell, Gabe usually didn't eat anyway. Candy, sure, but—

Sam's right hand clutched at Gabe's white shirt and yanked him into him as his left quickly went to the back of the angel's neck to bring him closer. He had to bend his knees slightly because of the absurd height difference, but he managed to find Gabe's lips fairly quickly, devouring them with their bodies pressed firmly against one another tightly. He felt the archangel tense instantly, likely in surprise, and paused for a second, just in case Gabe needed them to stop. He could feel his breaths coming out in pants, knowing he wasn't do any better. When the hand finally rested against his chest and Gabe lightly pushed him back, Sam received his answer. He reluctantly pulled back and released him, trying hard not to show his disappointment.

"Not that I'm, you know, not agreeable with what you're doing here, Sam-cubi , because I am very much so, undeniably even, and would definitely love to continue this," his angel quietly stated, gently cupping his cheek, "I'm not some cheap prom date ready to throw away my virginity to the first boy who comes knocking. Got it?" He then walked past the hunter before he paused when he realized he had no idea where their date was supposed to be. "Where are we going anyway? Kitchen?"

The taller man blinked in surprise before he answered a second later, "Outside."

Gabe raised a brow and stared at him. "Outside? Okay. Little bit kinkier than my last date, but lead the way."

"Your last date was you screwing Rowena—"

His hand shot up as he shook his head. "For the record, Samshine, that wasn't a date. That was just two adults engaging in perfectly normal—"

Sam rolled his eyes and walked out, brushing past the angel. "Whatever. I still didn't need to see it, Gabe." No one did.

"Then you should have offered yourself instead," remarked the angel dryly, falling in step beside him. "Then, we would have already been married with little rugrats of our own instead of going outside for our first date."

Stopping short, the tall hunter full body turned towards him, gently grabbing his arm. "Wait! You want kids?"

"Um, you don't?"

"I . . ." He paused for a moment and shrugged as he thought on it. "Well, I have Jack, and he's my son in all but blood, but we don't—it's—I don't know." He let go of him and continued their walk, his brows furrowing in concentration. He easily slid into the role of guiding Jack. And while he'd admit at first that he foolishly wanted to use the Nephilim to get Mary back, he quickly pushed that thought aside as he got to know Jack and grew to love him. "I mean, I know what you and Roz said, but this is all so. . ." He shook his head, ending that particular thought. Seriously. Kids. "And this life is hard on anyone, but to raise a kid into it, I mean, look at Dean and me."

"I don't know. You two turned out pretty all right." He then paused. "Well, except for the whole Daddy issues and horrible coping methods, not to mention the whole self-sacrificing and— Any who, you get my point. But the kid's doing well, considering who his bio dad really is."

Sam huffed a laugh as they walked up the wrought iron stairs, their steps thudding against the metal. He jumped when hands went to his ass a second later and squeezed firmly. Whirling around, he caught the faux innocent look on the mischievous man who was looking elsewhere.

"Keep it up, and you won't get dessert."

"Maybe I don't want dessert," Gabe challenged, stepping up just below Sam. His eyes darkened sexily. "Maybe I want the main course." Amber eyes flicked downward with a predatory smirk.

"Well, then you shouldn't have played hard to get earlier," he remarked, turning away with a smirk at the lightness he felt inside. Fuck, their banter sometimes—manuals would be written over it.

"Saaaaam!"

Throwing open the door, he walked out, feeling the cooler summer air rush past. His boots thumped quietly against the concrete before he finally reached the outside. It'd be a little bit of a hike for them, but it'd be worth it. As they passed Balthazar who was walking back from where Sam had asked him to set up their date, he caught the steely grays and the faint, knowing smirk of the angel. His stomach lurched in dread. Oh no.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't, boys," Balthazar drawled.

Gabe snorted in response at Sam's side before he quickly retorted over his shoulder, "Yeah, see, that's hard to do when you do everything under the sun, Bro."

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Angel of Hedonism and the Angel of Sexual Harassment. All Sam needed now was the Angel of Kinks, and he'd be back in Hell.

* * *

They managed to find the clearing without incident. Well, there was a minor one where Gabe had stumbled into him and they both ended up tumbling down the prairie grass hillside into the clearing where their date would be, but they both agreed not to mention that ever again. Gabe was still picking twigs and leaves out of his hair grumbling about it. Even though, Sam didn't think it looked _that_ bad.

As they walked down the candlelit path towards the set-up, Sam found the corners of his lips twitch in an attempt to hold back his smile of disbelief. Balthazar had actually managed to follow his request to the letter. There were no crazy additions from what he could see. The blanket was there spread out. The basket of food (which should be filled with mostly sugary desserts and foods that Sam knew Gabe would like with a few healthy additions for himself) placed in a corner with two bottles of beer set out for them chilling in an ice bucket. And two pillows for them to use later to stare up at the night sky. He'd thank the blond angel later.

"Whoa," his angel murmured quietly beside him as they neared the blanket. "You go all out on first dates, don't you?"

Sam did smile widely at that and chuckled. "I admit I had some help from your brother. I told him what I was thinking, and he did the rest."

"Cool. Remind me to snap him to the Fantasy 'verse later as a thank you."

His eyes widened. "There's a Fantasy universe?"

"There's a pocket universe for anything I want, Samshine," Gabe stated cockily. "It's sort of my thing. Remember?" He held up his fingers as if to snap them before he wiggled his brows again.

"Right. I forgot." He burst out laughing a moment later when he watched the archangel fall back against the blanket like it was a trust fall exercise gone wrong.

"What?" Amber eyes stared up at him curiously.

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head. Honestly, that damn angel was too freaking adorable for his own good sometimes. The hunter carefully lowered himself down to the opposite side of the blanket, snorting when Gabe instantly moved closer into his space, holding out one of the beers. Angels clearly never learned the meaning of the personal space. He popped off the cap to his beer, tapping it against Gabe's held out one, and took a swig, glancing upwards. "Was it like this up there in Heaven?"

"Nah," Gabe said quietly, taking a sip from his from own bottle. He swallowed and swiped at his mouth when he had spilled some of it accidentally. "Too damn quiet and peaceful down here to be like it. The only times it was like this was when I was with Cas . . . or Dad. Mostly Cas. The rest of the time it was just screaming and anger all the time. Sort of like Twitter nowadays."

"Oh." He tried to ignore the Twitter reference because it was obvious the trouble he'd cause.

"There was once, though." The heavenly being let his eyes wander upwards longingly with an air of somberness settling in. "Dad had gathered us all up after a particularly difficult day. I don't recall what had happened exactly, but I remember Balthazar being particularly good for once. Roz wasn't around yet. Or if she was, I didn't notice her. And Cas was silent at my side, resigned for some reason." He gave a dark laugh and shook his head before he took another long sip. It was a good thirty seconds until he finally spoke again. "I think it was to prepare us for you guys entering the family. Or maybe he had already created you guys and was revealing you. I don't know. Dad was so proud with himself, though, telling us how he finally got it right with this batch. They would be the ones, his most prized possessions. How he had such great hopes for this group."

Sam watched him silently, taking note of the terrible pain in the rich eyes.

"On second thought, it may have been the time when he showed us your souls before creating you. I feel like it was then because Cas—damn kiddo—has always been so mesmerized with your souls. I remember him pulling away to lean closer like it was a siren to him. He asked me so many damn questions about it afterwards." Gabe smiled at the memory. "Like I knew anything about souls."

"You can see them, though, right?"

Amber eyes instantly flicked to him. "Yes?"

"You telling or asking?" he said with a laugh.

"Both?" the angel answered uncertainly, shrugging lightly before he glanced away and took another sip from his bottle. He swallowed and then glanced upwards prior to turning back. "I mean, I don't see yours right now. But I usually do." More words then tumbled out in an obvious sign of high anxiety. "It's how we read you so well. We read your souls and what you're giving off to us."

The hunter snorted. "I consider myself lucky then."

"Why?" He seemed confused by Sam's words.

"An archangel is giving his secrets away," teased the human playfully. He then tossed back more of his beer, his eyes glancing upwards as he thought how this was the weirdest date he had ever been on. And yet how completely relaxed he was with it, except for the occasional hiccups.

"Eh. It's not like I'm teaching you the sigil Roz used on me."

The curious hunter leaned back with an easy smirk. _Got ya._ He gradually turned his attention back. "So, it _was_ a sigil then."

His angel groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. "You're like a dog with a bone. I swear." Amber eyes quickly met the amused hazel. "Yes, Sam-brarian. It was a sigil, and no I'm not teaching you it."

"But what if I need to lock in my room again?" he remarked with a casual shrug. He tried his best to ignore the scene his mind concocted for him with those words. He honestly had read waaaaay too much smutty fanfics lately. But maybe he'd borrow the handcuffs someday. For . . . research purposes.

"Make me a kickass nest with all your favorite clothes or sheets on your bed with some Netflix and a bowl of candy, and you won't need the sigil," Gabe quipped with a pointed look. "Or, you know, you can apply to my higher senses, heavenly being and all here, and _ask_ me instead of _forcing_ me."

He instantly felt a stab of guilt at that. His pint-sized angel had a point. They didn't need to take the nuclear option all the time. Not to mention he hadn't really thought that much on it before, but it was similar to kidnapping in some regards, forcing them to stay and submit. Not to mention disrespectful and treating them like they weren't beings. Well, those only really applied to their angels. He thought on this for a few moments, his curiosity getting the better of him. "So, angels really are similar to birds then?"

"Well, in some regards, sure," the heaven-sent being stated. "We molt. It takes a long time, but we do. We have awesome wings that allow us to fly. We can screech really loud—but we of course don't around you humans because that tends to go very badly. Your kind's so damn fragile," he remarked with a twisted grin. "We nest . . . sometimes. But we also have elements of human in us too. Dad probably used a bit of our design to make you. So, treating us, treating _me_, like I'm a stupid bird, well, Sa-stien, you're likely to get your ass kicked over it. Fair warning."

"Duly noted." The hunter then leaned forward, opening the basket to glance inside. If he kept up with his current drinking of his beer every two seconds to get rid of his dry mouth, he was going to end up being carried back by Gabe. The second he saw the so-called food Balthazar had packed for them, the deep giddy laughter exploded out of him. He full on belly laughed, his entire frame shaking. "Of course that jackass did," he declared through fits of laughter. Because of course Balthazar would.

"What?" Gabe suddenly moved towards the picnic basket as well and glanced inside. His lip twitched upwards immediately when he saw it, clearly fighting his own amusement. His hand reached in a moment later before he pulled out the long Saran-wrapped item near the bottom of the basket. His eyes twinkled mischievously as he met Sam's. "What do you say, my human lover? Want some of my extra-long sausage tonight?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively for the full effect.

Sam tried and failed to keep from snickering at the completely juvenile comment. "Gabriel!" He playfully shoved the man back, chuckling. "For the record, though, that doesn't impress me much," he stated with a wide grin, leaning back and lowering his voice. "I've seen . . ." his eyes glanced downwards suggestively "bigger."

The archangel's mouth dropped as he feigned shock. "Samuel! You take that back!" He used the sausage as a pointing device. "My sausage is—" His voice cracked again, and he soon joined Sam in loud, raucous chuckles. They doubled over, tears streaming down their eyes at the foolishness.

It was a good few minutes before the last of their giddiness vanished completely, and they were left resting beside one another. Sam watched Gabe's eyes drag reluctantly to his lips briefly before the angel slowly licked his. He smirked inwardly and then inched himself closer, watching the amber disappear into the black.

"Gabe?"

"Yeah, Sam?" His tongue darted out against, rewetting his lips for at least the third time so far that night. He was going to get chapped lips if he kept it up.

"What's your favorite kind of music?"

The angel snorted, rolling his eyes before he rolled onto his back to stare upwards at the sky.

"My favorite kind of music?" He brought his knees up so the backs of his sneakers were against his butt before he draped his left leg over his right knee lazily and kicked it with some silent song.

"Yeah." Sam propped himself up to stare at the heavenly being next to him. He could feel his insides knot and twist as he waited. It wasn't what he was originally going to ask, but he wasn't quite ready to ask that yet. "You know what mine is. So, it's only fair."

"Cheesy porno music. Nothing's better than a good ol' porn song. Bow chicka—"

Rolling his eyes, he glanced at Gabe. "I'm serious."

The archangel huffed at the interruption, glancing upwards. "Can't get anything past you, can I?" He then sighed loudly, uncrossing his legs and stretching out languidly. He was quiet for a few moments, his lips pursing as his eyes remained staring at the twinkling stars overhead. "Country. All right? I'm a sucker for old country." He gradually turned his head back to Sam. "There's a certain soul to it I enjoy."

He gave him a soft smile and nodded. From the songs he could remember John playing growing up, the few country there was in the tape deck, he had to agree that it had a definite spirit. "So, like, are we talking Merle Haggard here or Billy Ray Cyrus?"

Gabe instantly sat up with an outraged look. "Billy—_what_?!" he sputtered, shaking his head in utter indignation before he combed his fingers through his hair and turned away. "No, Sam. Just. No."

The hunter quickly crossed the mullet-haired artist off the list and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Well, if he ever needed to rile Gabe up, he had a way now. Who would have thought that would have been so insulting to the angel?

"Like Hank and the boys, Cash. Hell, songs like _Coppertown Road_ and _Devil Went to Georgia_. _Fancy_ even or— Billy Ray," the angel muttered with a grumble. "You're lucky I love you. Committing that disgusting blasphemy in front of me like that. If you were anyone else, I'd smite you for that."

"My apologies," drawled the taller man, catching the amber eyes. "It won't happen again." He watched Gabe turn his back to him, digging inside the basket again. The man's shoulders were hunched up again. His earlier easiness had been replaced by extreme defensiveness. "Gabe," he murmured, a few minutes later when Gabe didn't relax. He waited until the angel turned back to him in surprise. "I didn't know." He caught the immediate confusion before the amber eyes softened in recognition.

"I know that." The man waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not upset with you."

"Could have fooled me," he remarked with a pointed look.

The sandy-haired former Trickster huffed and shook his head. "There was no way you could have known I'd react like that." He then turned his attention back to the basket, rifling through it.

"And yet you still bit my head off like I committed some terrible sin." He watched Gabe pause for a moment before he continued with his search. "Gabriel?" He sat back up and reached for the angel's arm. "There's something else, isn't there?" His heart feel into his feet again.

The man groaned, yanking his arm back gently while hanging his head for a second before he turned back reluctantly. "You're too smart for your own good, I swear."

"What is it?" His insides twisted more in growing dread. His heart really couldn't take anymore.

"I keep getting this stupid wiggling thought up here," grumbled Gabe, tapping against his temple with a huffed sigh of irritation. "I thought suppressing my Grace would help us connect, let me focus more on us, but all it's doing is making me act like an idiot around you."

The hunter's lips twitched silently. Oh. "Welcome to first date jitters. They suck."

"That they do." He then sat back with no food and ran another hand through his light, wavy hair, messing it up with a groan. "I don't understand why I'm like this. I've never been like this before." His eyes slowly looked up again pitifully. "It's not like I'm suave or debonair by any means, but I got moves still. I can sweep whoever I want off their feet anytime I want." Sam smiled faintly but said nothing, finding Gabe's admission of first date jitters endearing. "But around you I'm as graceful as a baby penguin just out of its shell." He shook his head sullenly, his lower lip protruding slightly. "I'm an archangel for Dad's sake. I'm not supposed to get like this. I'm supposed to be calm under—"

He couldn't help himself any longer. He had to. Desperation took over. It was really all the angel's fault for looking so damn adorable and then doing that pout. Sam moved forward suddenly, his lips crashing against his angel's. The second he felt Gabe surrender, which really wasn't that long after, he felt his happiness skyrocket. Yes! Finally!

He tilted his head slightly to get better access then, snorting when their noses accidentally bumped against one another as they tried to take charge of their demanding kiss. They were both being stubborn with one another, not giving an inch to the other. He chuckled as he thought how this scene would have been best described as two alphas asserting their dominance if it was an A/B/O fic. And wasn't that the truth? A groan unexpectedly tore from his lips the second he felt Gabriel force them both down against the blanket, the angel's solid weight atop of him, pleasantly warm.

A second later, Gabe's hands went to the blue-and-red plaid, yanking it out from the jeans where they had been tucked in earlier. Once both were free, Sam having done the same to Gabe not long after, their hands slid under the other's respective shirt, exploring the hot flesh underneath. More muffled groans filled the clearing with an air of forbidden electricity building. They both grinded against one another, hissing their pleasure at the delightful friction it caused.

It was as if they had lost all rational thought. Which Sam supposed they had, but he honestly couldn't give a fuck about that right now. He groaned, arching his back when Gabe's fingers curled and dug into his biceps, drawing him even closer. It wasn't enough really. Nothing really would be. And that was terrifying and yet so utterly amazing to him. He shuddered against the heavenly being, hearing Gabe's low, reverent moan of his name so sinfully as Sam left a trail of kisses from the angel's lips to his jawline.

He may have originally been jittery, but he was obviously very much in his element right now.

The hunter sucked in a large gasp when he felt fingers quickly start to unbuckle his belt. He felt his arousal burst and explode inside in anticipation.

"Yes," he groaned into the side of his angel's throat, lapping at the man's flesh like it was a gourmet meal. "Please." He arched again, shuddering at the warmth that settled deep within his belly. His mind battled itself. He was defiling an angel . . . or was the angel defiling him? Oh, who honestly gave a fuck? And what a delightful fuck it was going to be. So fucking . . .

Trembling, his mind became overwhelmed by all his senses. It was as if someone had—had—

Warmth surrounded him, loved him. A pillow of absolute softness and unexplainable heat he had never felt before cocooned him. Each gasp drew in more of that rich earthy forest scent he identified as Gabe's, but there was also the hint of a fruity smell too along with a whiff of beer from earlier.

Sam's fingers gripped anything he could reach, mostly flesh with meaty muscle contracting and expanding deliciously underneath in reply. But then after a few more moments of practically rutting against the archangel, he felt it, the softness that had cocooned him earlier, enveloping him in its love and warmth. His mind fought against his hazy lust, desiring and pleading to see what he hoped it'd be.

At first, he saw nothing but darkness. No stars. No moon. No nebulas. No nothing. As if the night sky had been blotted out completely. But as his eyes adjusted, and he slowly felt himself come out of his lust for a fraction of a second, he started to see it. A beat later, he let out a stifled sob when he saw the beautiful iridescent golden wings stretched up and out proudly before they quickly hid them from prying eyes again. So much for suppressing his Grace for twelve hours, he thought with a smirk.

A series of violent crackles overhead caused the two to pause before Gabriel suddenly flew back from him, his wings quickly vanishing from sight again. He looked positively wrecked, panting loudly with his hair damp and sticking to his forehead in darkened clumps. His lips were plump, swollen, in an angry red. And his eyes glowed a pastel as his Grace flared with life. His head rolled back before he let out a low roar that grew, shaking the ground as more crackles raced across the charged air like fierce, destructive thunder during mid-summer Kansas thunderstorm.

The hunter felt something deep within react to his angel's cry. He inhaled deeply, feeling the raw power encircle them, soak into him. He wasn't scared, though, as he knew everything would be fine somehow. That all was well regardless of how it looked. As he felt more waves of energy penetrate him, he felt the current race through his body. He kept his eyes trained on Gabriel for as long as he could maintain before finally the spell broke. They both collapsed back onto the blanket, shuddering puddles.

His angel seemed to be the first to come back to himself, a tired chuckle slipping from his lips. "You're going to kill me one of these times I swear." He met the human's look and flashed his trademark smirk, albeit with extreme exhaustion etched into it. "But there are worse ways to go I suppose. I'm just going to have to be more careful now on."

"W-what was that?" he inquired, scooting himself closer as he needed them to be touching again.

"My Grace . . ." Gabe started to say in pants, still coming down from his high, "with your soul."

"Wow."

The heavenly being older than Creation itself chuckled and nodded tiredly, slotting their hands together before he gently squeezed their conjoined hands.

"Just wait until we actually hit that home run, slugger," purred the archangel, reaching his free hand up prior to brushing back Sam's hair tenderly. "Big Bang might get knocked down into a little bang." He smiled openly, completely content next to the hunter.

"Speaking of that," he snorted when he caught the amber eyes widen in mischief and intrigue, "you never did answer my question."

"Oh? Which one?"

Sam smirked, feeling a rare playfulness take over again. He squeezed their hands and rubbed the back of his thumb against his whiskey angel's hand. When he felt the responding squeeze back, he huffed a soft laugh. "Are you a top or a bottom?" He caught Gabe's immediately eyeroll.

"Make or break questions already? Really, Sam?" He shook his head. "I should've known."

"Gabriel," he chided. "I'm serious." He kept his smile light, but his eyes showed his slight concern. Not that it was really a big deal what the answer was considering, but he liked to have all the answers. Know what he was getting himself into in other words and make sure there were no surprises that would come back and bite them in the ass later. He was annoying like that according to his brother.

"Well, I am an archangel," the angel reminded before he shrugged lightly. "Sort of a requirement for all us to be alphas, you know?" His fingers lightly tapped against Sam's. "But it doesn't really—that's not really a thing for me honestly. It's the sex I enjoy. The joining of two to become one. The little sparks that result. The high that comes afterwards from a really good fuck." He tilted his head slightly in consideration. "It's like a good bar of rich extra sweet chocolate to me. I don't focus on the details like if there are nuts involved or what kinds. I just focus on if it makes me happy and if my partner is satisfied. But, you know, in all honesty really, my partners are usually an afterthought."

Sam chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "So, you're a selfish dick."

"Pretty much." Gabe shrugged lazily.

"Good to know." Least he knew where he stood in this relationship.

"That said," he regained Sam's attention instantly "you're actually the first one where I'm finding myself pausing and thinking about you before me. Not a lot, got to maintain that sexy endearing toxic trait of mine, but it's there."

"Oh, but of course," he drawled back with a dimpled smirk. "So, your answer is that you're a switch hitter then."

"My answer is that it doesn't matter to me, Sam," Gabe lightly corrected. "What about you?"

"Top. Definitely a top." He licked his lips as his eyes darted to the side to avoid the sharp gaze.

"Have you ever—"

"Yes."

Gabe whistled instantly before he forced a quiet, awkward laugh. "Not enjoyable I take it?"

The tall hunter winced and shrugged, recalling the one and only time he had ever tried to switch things up. He had really tried to get over his uneasiness and make it work. It just—it got weird really quick, and he couldn't. It had ended in him spending a few nights at a friend's house after they had fought about it stupidly, Jess thinking he was rejecting her instead of what really was going on. It had taken a few days before they managed to calm things back down again, returning to their vanilla lifestyle as she would tease sometimes. He still wasn't sure if she was bitter over it or not, as— His eyes quickly closed as he felt the metaphorical punch to his gut at the pain. He hadn't thought about her in years.

"Sam?"

Hazel eyes blinked back the sting and darted over to his angel.

"Whatever happened—"

"I just . . ." He huffed his frustration and sighed heavily. "Maybe because it was Jess and the whole misogynistic, testosterone-laced societal theory about how real men can't enjoy a dominant woman and switching roles in the bedroom or maybe because of something else entirely, but it just made me feel weird, so no I didn't enjoy it. And we didn't try it ever again." He left off the _Because she died._

"Okay." The sandy-haired man shrugged lightly, starting to reach forward to comfort him likely before he stopped himself, thinking better of it, and let his free hand fall back to the blanket with a soft thud. "I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but, well, while we're sharing . . ."

Sam glanced at him, the creases deepening as his confusion grew.

"Everyone, and by everyone I mean my brothers, think the reason I don't want to be like Cas and choose to be human permanently is because I don't want to give up my awesome archangel power and all that nonsense. It's not that, though." His lips pursed in concentration as he likely considered his words carefully.

"What is it then?" The long-haired man felt a chill sweep over him when he caught the ghosts behind the rich amber. "Gabriel?" He moved closer, pushing himself up slightly to stare down at him. His voice was low, barely above a whisper.

"Asmodouche, he was one thing, you know, but he was a Prince of Hell, so his asshole ways were to be expected." He forced an uneasy smile. "I was conditioned to hate him from the very beginning. And the torture made it easy." His voice gave out again before he drew in a shaky breath.

Sam laid a hand on the man's forearm and squeezed his hand to give him all his strength.

"But, you see, it wasn't him that did the damage initially, though. It was home." He brushed back his hair with his free hand and groaned, his other hand squeezing Sam's briefly before he continued. "I sweep it under every rug I can, not wanting to bother dealing with it ever because it's not something we do. We're angels, emotionless dicks, weapons of terrible destruction for Dad to use so he doesn't get blood on his hands. No. We _compartmentalize_. We shove it into the deepest parts and slam the door shut. It's something I've done all my life, and something Roz would call me out on from time to time."

Sam could see that happening. She was rather feisty if they were honest. Not afraid to let her opinions be known to anyone regardless if they outranked her or not. She was strong, independent, fearless, and likely could kick anyone's ass if they pushed her far enough. Though, she likely had to be considering the other angels.

Patiently waiting, he examined his angel's face. He could see that the archangel clearly was plagued by his demons, needing to get this out. He'd let him have his time uninterrupted then. The soulful amber was so unfocused now, reserved with hints of sadness showing. He just barely held himself back from smoothing out the angel's frown lines, wishing he could make it better somehow.

The former Trickster's frown deepened before he sighed dejectedly. "Did you know when I'm dying the last image, the very last one, I see is of my little brothers?" He nodded jerkily when the hunter's eyes widened. "Yeah. I know. I see Cassie and Balthazar, though. Every single time." He glanced away heartbreakingly. "It used to be their true forms, but this last time, no _these_ last times, it was them as little adorable hellion brats with fluffy wings and all." He forced a dark chuckle and huffed. "The first time I was on Death's porch ready for the big finish, I had gotten injured sparring with another angel. One of Luci's lackeys who probably gladly followed him down to Hell at some point. It could have been an accident, could have been on purpose, who knows?"

Sam's eyes narrowed as he listened. Lucifer's lackeys? Wouldn't that have been demons that he supposedly created? He pulled himself back from his thoughts when Gabe continued.

"Dad found me, though, and healed me with that look of disappointment he typically wore around me. He told me how even though I was initially sparring with a fellow brother in arms that I should never let my guard down. That it'd always end in pain for me. And how he hoped I learned my lesson. I scoffed him off, though, and went about my merry way."

If the hoodie-wearing, folk-loving dick was in front of him, the hunter would have shot him again. Maybe he'd have done it in both freaking arms this time. He would just ignore the fact that they no longer had that gun anymore. It was the thought that counted after all.

"The second time was right before skipping out on Heaven. One of the many reasons I left in fact." The light eyes glanced down before they closed all together. "I had heard his cries, felt how absolutely terrified he was, so I flew off to find Cas, to save him from whatever the hell was going on this time. Mikey eventually found out what I was doing and kept telling me to ignore it while I checked the rooms one by one. That everything was fine. It was just Naomi helping Cas with something that Dad had asked her to do. To make him a better angel."

Naomi? He didn't know much about her, but he knew enough to know she was bad news. She had threatened Bobby's soul, after all, and whenever she was mentioned around Cas and Dean, they'd both flinch in response. None of that were good signs.

"Luci—oh the irony—was the one who told me what they were doing . . . and I . . ." The older being inhaled shakily as the memories likely assaulted him. Sam fell back against the blanket, his back hitting it silently, and instantly pulled him closer until the angel's head was on his chest and their arms were hugging one another. He was thankful that Gabe didn't even attempt to fight his offer of comfort this time. "I don't know what the hell I thought I was doing really, but I busted in there all Kill Bill. You'd have thought I was damn Uma, ready for the big, epic boss fight." He huffed a choked laugh, a slight tremble in his frame as he clutched the plaid.

Sam gently rubbed circles against the smaller man's back, ignoring the slight ache that was already starting from their position. He wished he could take the pain the angel felt, but just holding him would have to do for now.

"I barged in there and asked Naomi what the hell she thought she was doing, and she fed me the same bullshit. That Dad had asked her to fix Cas." His voice turned into angry snarls of contempt. Waves of raw energy crackled around them before it lessened again. "I yanked him out of that fucking white room horror show of hers as quickly as I could, using my Grace to patch him up. And when I realized it wasn't working, that he wasn't healing, I went to Dad and pleaded with him." His voice hitched slightly, and his small frame sank further into Sam's. He held the hunter tightly, as if afraid he'd be left alone with his thoughts. "He snapped his fingers, and it was like Cas had never been in that room. Do you know what the little brat did then? He got pissy with me—with me, Sam—for fussing over him and stormed out. Accused me of hovering over him." The older heavenly brother scoffed bitterly. "Damn right I hover. And I'd do it time and time again too if it meant keeping him fucking safe."

Sam smiled wistfully, recalling Dean saying something similar about him once.

"Dad, though—he looked me straight in the face and said he'd make sure Naomi knew Castiel would be off limits from now on. Lied and said he had never asked her to speak with Cas, let alone mess with his mind as she had. And I, the dumbass I am, believed him. I fucking believed him. So, when I left, abandoned them for good, barked at Balthazar to take care of Cas, I never once thought . . ."

At hearing the angel's voice cut out unexpectedly, he twisted his arm slightly to reach and carded his fingers through Gabe's hair gently, doing his best to will away the angel's regret and guilt. "I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

"No, I'm sure the dumbass doesn't," remarked the angelic older brother dryly, his head moving suddenly to bury further into Sam's chest. "But I blame myself," he mumbled quietly.

"Gabe—"

The angel had none of it, though, and cut him off, pulling back sharply and narrowly hitting Sam in the jaw with his head. "Everyone thought I went on a mission down to Earth per Dad's orders when I skipped out. Everyone. Hell, I bet Cassie and Balthazar still think it. Do you know what it really was?" His eyes darkened briefly before he buried his head again, clearly trying to escape the truth. His words were muffled into the plaid. "I ran to the exact place Dad had once told me about in one of our silly father-son bonding times, thinking it would be the perfect place to hide out for eternity. Five seconds later, though, I found myself trapped there thanks to a binding sigil etched into the ground and got a blade to my back for good measure. I didn't even see the coward, let alone hear them. I lay there in the dirt, face down, Grace pooling around me. And there they were, my little bros, mirages watching me die. After I walked out and left them like the stupid, selfish jackass I am." The angel shook his head against him, his forehead digging in, and shuddered an angry, guilt-ridden, choking sob. "And you know what? That time, I closed my eyes and welcomed Death with open arms. I deserved it for abandoning them."

"Oh, Gabriel," murmured the younger, closing his eyes at the pain he heard in his angel's voice.

"Only I woke up two days later in that same cave to a man stumbling in clutching his abdomen as he held his insides together. It was the weirdest damn thing. Here's this man who showed up out of the blue not long after I woke up, dying and I could sense it even in my weakened state. He had a goodness about him, his soul pure, just in terrible pain. I spoke to him then, revealed myself to him. I was trying to make sense of everything. How I could still be alive. How he had come into my cave of all places and found me. And the man, thinking he was delirious from blood loss, told me his story. How his entire family had been slaughtered by some Roman general because he had the audacity to fall in love with the man's son. I honestly don't remember. It's been eons since then, so I'm bound to forget."

Sam's eyes widened as he realized what Gabe was saying.

"Is that how you got this vessel?" he asked, his mind racing as he tried to commit it to memory. The history alone of what the archangel was revealing was . . . The same vessel used since Roman era.

"Yes." Gabe slowly tilted his head upwards to meet his eyes as the hunter lowered his. "I promised I'd avenge his family if he gave me permission. And he did." The amber eyes soon were hidden again. His arms, though, slowly snaked their way around Sam's neck. It was a good few minutes before he continued. "And I kept my word. I didn't prolong their suffering. I didn't torture them. I didn't draw it out. The second I found them all huddled ready to raid yet another village, I smote all but the general. For him, I ran my blade clean through his heart without a word. I made sure he and my vessel saw one another, and then I turned tail and snapped us out of there. Met Loki a few days later and begged him to hide me, assuming his identity, and you know the rest."

The hunter's mind processed this information, his thoughts rattling off with so many options. Had he read anything close to this, any lore over the years, any history he could recall from the Roman era? Nothing was an exact fit unfortunately he decided after a few more moments. He'd have to search for it later. Not for himself, but to tell Gabe about the town he had inadvertently saved from a bloody end when so many others hadn't. Maybe it'd cheer the angel up to see the good in his actions.

The man inhaled deeply before he trembled against the taller, shaggy-haired Winchester again. His emotions were clearly overwhelming him again, so Sam gently rubbed more circles against his back and murmured platitudes he wasn't even certain would be at all comforting to the angel. But he assumed Gabe would understand the old 'It's the thought that counts' adage. When he heard the quiet hitch of breath, he pulled him even closer, half of the angel atop of him now, closing his eyes as he felt his heart clench at the heartbreaking sound. He slowly brought up a hand and ran his fingers lightly through the feathery golden locks.

"He was too weak, though," Gabriel whispered, sniffling softly as he pulled back to wipe away the tears, his arms gripping Sam's bicep tightly, "and my Grace couldn't heal him quick enough." His smaller frame trembled horribly, causing Sam to readjust their embrace somewhat. The sandy-haired man immediately buried himself even further into the hunter, who did his best to oblige, gently resting his chin atop of the heartbroken angel's head. "I still don't have all the answers, but once they were all dead, he went silent" a slight hitch in his voice followed a hiccup and a muffled cry "and then he was gone." More tears soaked through Sam's shirt. "And I was alone again until Loki."

"You kept your word to him," quietly pointed out the six-foot-four, shaggy-haired Winchester who continued rubbing his angel's back lovingly.

"Doesn't matter," he argued back petulantly.

"I think it does," Sam softly stated before he lowered his chin slightly and kissed the top of his angel's head with a reflective sigh. "You showed him you were an honorable man, Gabe. That you kept your promises. And that you were merciful. I mean, you let him see the man who killed his family die."

"So?"

"You gave him a little peace back. Something to hold onto in his grief."

"But I know how that ends," he scoffed, pulling back from the hunter completely. "It leaves you empty, Sam. It leaves you—"

"What happened to you," the hunter stated fiercely, bending down to meet Gabe's gaze "was horrendous." When the angel turned his head to look away, the taller man gently snaked his hand up and grabbed the smaller man's face to turn him back. "I mean, Lucifer may have torn me down emotionally numerous times in the Cage, annoyed the crap out of me, but he didn't do half the shit Asmodeus did to you I'd imagine. I won't even begin to try to guess at all that you went through. You'll tell me when you're ready, whenever that is. But look at it like I am. Your vessel, whoever he was, knew you were good, Gabe. Just as I do."

The archangel sighed in exasperation, shaking his head, clearly not believing the declaration.

"I know you don't want to believe that. I know you think you're to blame for all that happened with him. But you said it yourself. He came to you already hurt, likely already dying, and knowing it."

"Right, and I took advantage—"

"No you didn't. You may do some pretty shitty stuff sometimes, but you ultimately do it to teach assholes painful lessons. And you always stand up for people who otherwise wouldn't have a voice." He frowned faintly before he brushed back a few stray strands of the archangel's wavy golden locks, his hand eventually cupping the man's cheek tenderly. He could see the regret and guilt eating inside his angel. "You need to forgive yourself. You didn't kill him. You gave him peace instead." He shook his head when Gabriel opened his mouth to argue. "And that's—hell, that's what I love about you." The heavenly being paused and stared at him in surprise. "You have a way of letting others know that they matter, that they're loved, that no matter what they did—you'll forgive them. And you passed that down onto your brothers. Onto your sister. You may not have been around for as long as you wished, but you did leave a lasting impression on them that they all carry with them and exhibit frequently."

"Sam—"

"No. Okay. I know what you're going to say. How you think that you were to blame. You're not, though. Gabriel, you gave that man back a sliver of peace. You showed him mercy and the same for the others. The rest of your family rarely ever does."

"That doesn't—"

"You're right. I could be entirely wrong about this. However, you said he went quiet after you killed them and then left, presumably to Heaven. He didn't have a reason left to be down here after their deaths. He had finished the last thing he wanted to do, thanks to you. So, when it was over, he let go." Sam's hand slid to Gabriel's shoulder. "His last act was to give his body completely to you to use however you wished as his soul moved on."

"Yeah, and look what I've done with it."

"I am," Sam replied flatly. "You helped Dean and me figure out the missing piece to prevent the Apocalypse. We wouldn't have known about the rings without your Casa Erotica DVD. You told us how to trap your brother. You even fought him for us and humanity. Several times in fact. You tried and tried to get Lucifer to listen to you, even in the alternate world to get over himself and his ego, to see what you see in us, to get the brother you loved back. You've taken your nephew under your wings and accepted him, no questions asked. You helped us fight an alternate version of Michael, again sacrificing yourself for us. Gabe, I mean," the hunter laughed rather astonished "you're practically fucking Iron Man." He shrugged his broad shoulders with another scoff. "Don't ever discredit all the good you've done because of the bad acts." He could see that the gears were already turning and decided to throw it all out there. "When you look at me, do you see me as a good man, Gabriel?"

"Of course," instantly answered the angel with not a second of hesitation.

"Even though I used to drink demon blood?" He didn't wait for the answer. "Even though I spiraled out of control after Dean and the whole Crowley and Mark of Cain crap?" He was impressed when he noticed that the man didn't even react to his confessions. "Or how about when I told Dean we should just leave Cas in Amara's hands so she could continue torturing him and Lucifer? That he had made his choice. What about then?" He caught the amber widen a fraction before they returned to forced neutrality. "I can go on. I've done a lot of messed up things in my life. Like, hell, I used your nephew like he was a tool for months after Cas was dead, like he didn't matter, because I just wanted to get my mom back. Jack would be collateral damage, and I didn't care. Not at first at least. Because all I could see was Lucifer in him, and a means to an end." He leaned forward, forcing their eyes to meet. "What about then? Still see me as a good man?" When the amber eyes slipped away from his, Sam felt his heart drop into his gut. Yeah. That was what he thought. Damn, they had gone heavy on this date.

"We're not black and white."

"We're not," Sam agreed, hoping the archangel understood that went for his feathery ass too.

Gabriel forced a quiet, dark laugh before he shook his head. "Well, I'll be damned."

Hazel eyes darted to him. What?

"You really see through me, don't you, Samshine? See through all my masks down to the very last." He closed his eyes briefly, resting his head against the man's shoulders. "You're one of four, I think, who can. Dad cheats, you know, with the whole being omniscient thing, so he doesn't count, but the other four." He slumped against him and sighed quietly. "That Rogers fellow—the cardigan guy with the puppets—he read me like a book the second I snuck into his heaven. Did you know?"

Sam willed himself somehow not to react, only tensing for a millisecond at hearing Gabe's mentioning of Mister Rogers. He'd freely admit ever since hearing that revelation of Gabriel meeting the children's tv host, he was fixated on it, curious about how that meeting had gone, wishing he could ask but not wanting to push the angel over it either. It was private between them. He understood that having gone through his own form of Mister Rogers's therapy session a while back in the Impala.

The shaggy-haired hunter may have only caught a few episodes here and there over the years, but he knew enough to know a meeting between those two would have been fascinating. Gabriel, a multi-dimensional wavelength of celestial energy, who constantly hid his pain behind humor, and Mister Rogers who likely saw through that and gotten the archangel to break down his walls if only for a moment with some gentle, understanding comment. He held his angel a bit tighter, waiting patiently for Gabriel to work out the words.

"Do you know what his first words to me were?" Sam shook his head silently. "Who hurt you, Angel?" Amber eyes fluttered closed for a second, his shoulders sagging somberly. Without a doubt, Sam assumed that if he could see the beautiful golden wings that faded into deep blue in the light again, they too would have been drooping in despair. He pressed a simple kiss to his angel's forehead, offering him a kind smile when the deep soulful whiskey opened in surprise and stared at him. A second later, Gabriel inhaled sharply, as if given life again by that simple act, and continued, his voice steadier than before. "I spilled it all to him like the chocolate fountain at Golden Corral. Because I want—" He instantly stopped and skipped ahead then, nearly giving Sam whiplash from the drastic turn. "I couldn't stay away from you. I couldn't interfere with your story. I knew that. And yet . . . I couldn't just not be around you either. I longed for you, craved to be near you. I knew Cassie had visited the guy, so I thought why the hell not. If he could help my little brother deal with his longing and not go insane, maybe he could help me too. Because you couldn't be mine. I couldn't ever get that lucky."

Sam was quiet for a moment as he processed this. It couldn't have been after the Elysian fiasco since he knew all about the painful saga of horrors the archangel suffered at the hands of a Prince of Hell. So, it was clearly before then. Finally, after a few more seconds of silence, he relented and asked.

"When did you talk to him?"

Gabe shrugged lazily before he snuggled back into Sam's chest. "Not long after you and Dean released me from that Ring of Fire you trapped me inside. Our whole epic revelation. 'They call me Gabriel." His fingers slowly started to trace something against Sam's chest. "You two made me think. And your whole alpha routine you did, taking charge and all, I was lost, tempted to spill my guts and tell you everything you needed, throw my allegiance, my blade, and loyalty behind you entirely, Sam, right then and there for good." He huffed a cold laugh. "Fuck Dad and his tragic story bullshit."

"Did it help?"

"Eh," he replied with an obvious grimace that Sam couldn't see from the angle the angel was at. "Sort of." He pulled back slightly then and glanced upwards again. "He kept trying to get me to deal with my whole family drama. Stating I needed to deal with that pain and learn to love myself first—you know, typical childhood trauma rehab just the angelic version of it."

"Did you?"

Rich amber eyes flicked down to him with a frown. "What do you think?"

"I think it's 50-50 at this point," he replied with a ghostly smile.

The angel huffed, rolling his eyes, and then let his full weight crash back down atop of the hunter's. His fingers returned to their silent wandering, tracing Enochian against him Sam recognized.

Hazel eyes looked up at the night sky soon after, allowing the silence to settle around them. These moments were theirs. When they both could be themselves and not have a damn care in the world about anything but each other. He could feel himself relax as he enjoyed these rare times.

And to think they both had been nervous about this for some reason. A smile quirked his lips up more and lightened his eyes in amusement. They had gone from nervous to adorable to sex-crazed to heavy emotional trauma to this. They clearly had no idea how a first date should go. And, yet, he couldn't help but smile at it, knowing they were doing it their way. That it made it more real this way.

They had learned so much about one another. Who would have known that Gabriel didn't trust himself around him? Or that he saw his brothers whenever he died or nearly died? That it and all the emotional baggage he'd suffer over the years were the reason why he refused the alluring siren's call to humanity? That he'd had a history with Naomi and all of the stuff with Chuck? Or, hell, what it felt like to have Grace mix with his soul and how overwhelmingly powerful that was.

After a few more minutes of silence, he felt the smaller man start to wiggle slightly in his arms and bit back his laugh. Now what?

"Gabe?"

"Yeah?" was the whispered, guilty-sounding reply.

He felt more wiggling against him and nearly groaned when the angel's leg accidently rubbed hard against his groin in an attempt to get more comfortable. They were going to kill each other if they kept that up. He lowered his head again to glance down at the angel.

"You good now or are you going to torture me some more with your squirming?" quipped the hunter with a raised brow, catching the deep amber widening before the impishness awakened. He grunted when Gabe suddenly rolled completely atop of him, straddling him with a predatory smirk.

"Now I'm good."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Of course you are." He bit the inside of his cheek when Gabe leaned forward once more, feeling a fresh surge of arousal at the firm contact directly over his rapidly swelling dick. He caught the ass's grin and glared back. "You realize I could do the same, right? That without your Grace to rely on and suppressing it like you are, I could turn you into a sobbing depowered archangel puddle." He kept his tone light, but his eyes gave the clear warning that he wasn't messing around. He absolutely would give that dick back the same goddamn treatment if given the chance.

"Oh, really?" purred Gabe, his hips languidly rocking sensually against his erection soon after.

Sam threw his head back with a shuddered gasp as the sensation sent more waves throughout him. His hips jerked upwards, instinctively chasing the warmth and pleasure the angel was providing. He heard the deep rumbles of chuckles above him and felt his annoyance rise minutely. His hands quickly found Gabe's lower back, and he used every bit of strength he could find to roll them over. It took two attempts as the first only got them to roll onto their sides unfortunately, but eventually he had the Archangel Fucking Gabriel right where he wanted him—underneath him.

"You're a little shit," he huffed, glancing down at the sandy-haired man who was staring up with a slackened jaw. He quickly pulled his shirt off and threw it frustratedly down beside them before he leaned forward, dragging his pelvis firmly against the angel's in the most agonizing way he could muster. When he caught Gabe's head thrown back and heard the loud, lust-filled groan from the angel, he seized the moment. His tongue instantly plunged into the smaller man's opened mouth, seeking out all of the delicious heat and taking everything he could get from him. Gabe's fingers quickly grabbed hold of him, his nails raking down his back in response. He then pulled back sharply, entirely pleased when he heard the immediate grumpy growl of frustration. "I warned you. I fucking" he slid his clothed erection languidly against the angel "warned you, asshole."

"Yes, yes, whatever," growled Gabriel, his hands falling to cup Sam's ass through his jeans. "You warned me. Now, let's get to the— _SAM_!" His cry tore out of his throat with a roar, a bit of his True Voice slipping out and causing the ground to shake for half a second. His control was slipping.

The hunter smirked down at his prey in response. "What's the matter, Gabe?" he asked, adopting the man's usual smartass manner. He chuckled when he caught the fierce glower. "Not a fan of me beating you at your own game?"

"No. Actually, I'm loving it," he admitted thickly, "but if you keep this up, I'm going to lose what little control I have left and things are not going to go well for us. So, please, Sam," he begged, shaking underneath the hunter. "_Please_."

"Please _what_?" He raised a brow and tilted his head to the left as he glanced down at his angel, pressing more of his weight atop of him and grabbing his arms to pin down to the blanket. He felt Gabe's immediate response and chuckled. Could it be . . .? "Answer me," he stated coldly, his voice dropping several octaves into a low growl that demanded obedience. At the feel of swelling hardness against him, he drew in a slow breath, willing himself to remain in control of the scene. But, damn, it felt so perfectly delicious.

"Please," whined the heavenly being, his hips raising to seek out Sam's warmth but not finding it as the hunter lifted himself up off each time.

At the sound of crackling energy overhead, the hunter finally relented. The last thing they needed was for Gabriel to lose complete control.

"Fine." He then released him and moved to roll off. He paused when the hand latched onto his forearm soon after. "Gabe?"

"I didn't ask you to stop, my beautiful, sexy, soulful lover."

"I know, but you also said earlier that you're not going to put out on the first date. And I respect and care for you too much to take advantage of you." He tossed those words back with a grin.

Gabriel scowled, his hands suddenly coming up and yanking Sam back down to him. "I fucking lied. Now, stop dicking around and mount me."

"Mount you?" Sam repeated with an incredulous laugh.

"Fuck me. Do me dirty. Make me scream your name so our brothers hear it. So all of my goddamn siblings hear our lovemaking. So Dad can hear it! Take everything I am and will be and—"

The human's hand quickly covered his angel's mouth, his eyes shining brightly under the soft moonlight. He stared down at him lovingly.

"You have a positively dirty mouth for being from Heaven." He shook his head at the amber orbs rolling hard. "Plus, aren't you like Ken dolls down there anyway?" he joked, knowing full well that Gabe was nothing like a Ken doll in terms of male anatomy. Or at the very least his vessel wasn't, considering how painfully hard the man was currently. He then let his hand slowly fall to the side so the fierce archangel who was trembling below him could speak.

"Sam." His eyes flashed with sparks of Grace, his control clearly slipping more.

"Gabriel," he purred back, his pupils contracting as the heavy scent of woods invaded.

"Fuck. Me. Now!"

His index finger went to his lips in obvious deep thought as he stared down with a sinister grin. "No. I don't think I will." He then leaned back, putting all his weight on Gabe's thighs. He motioned all around them. "Not really a huge fan of public sex, especially out here in a clearing where anyone could come across us." More energy ripped across the sky, crackling violently as the waves of raw power slipped from Gabe's quickly waning control. "But . . ."

"But! But _what_?!" snapped the youngest archangel, his last shred of patience destroyed.

"Your Grace is rebelling against you."

A fierce bitchface rivaling his scowled back. "Don't worry about that. I've got it handled."

"It's longing for my soul, Gabriel," he pointed out, knowing he was torturing him.

"Again, I'm aware," grumbled the angel glaring mildly. "And I'm handling it. Now, will you hurry up before my hours are up?"

"End it."

The soulful amber eyes blinked in surprise. "What?"

"End whatever it is you're doing, Gabe," he stated calmly. His finger pressed lightly against the angel's lips then to silence him when it was obvious that the man was going to argue. "If we're going to be together, then I want all of you. That's the deal."

"Sam—" he muffled against his finger before the hunter removed it.

"You didn't suppress it with Kali or Rowena or probably any of the others you've been with."

"Of course I didn't," huffed the archangel. "Because I didn't need to. I didn't love them, Sam."

"Exactly. And you know what's so great about love?" He smiled down at him. "Trusting one another. Trusting your love." He then shrugged. "Because let's face it. If we had sex right now, you'd be distracted, focused entirely on holding back your power, out of this so-called sense of protectiveness you have. But I think we proved earlier that you won't hurt me." He snorted when the angel opened his mouth. He rattled his evidence off in rapid succession, pleading his case. "I heard your True Voice. I saw your wings. I've even seen flashes of your True Form. We had angel sex . . . or whatever that Grace-Soul thing was earlier. I think I can handle it, Gabriel. After all, I _am_ a strong vessel."

His angel glowered before he sighed exasperatedly, conceding. "Fine."

"Thank you." Sam then leaned forward and kissed him gently. He slowly eased their kiss into a deep, languid exploration, seeking every inch once again. His fingers lightly scrapped against the angel's scalp, resulting in a low, needy growl from the celestial being. He then paused and pulled back, chuckling at Gabe's grumbling growl of annoyance. So needy. "Let's take this to my room, shall we?"

"No." The archangel then heaved a heavy sigh and whined a desperate moan, clearly wishing they were still kissing and not talking. "I'm an archangel in love with you, Sam-of-my-dreams. Fooling around with Red in the library was one thing, but you and me—your brother would never forgive me for blowing out Baby's headlights and all the other bulbs in the bunker for that matter."

Well, when he put it like that . . .

"Sandals Turks and Caicos then?" Sam suggested with a lopsided grin.

Gabriel chuckled in response, his eyes lighting up in absolute delight. "No. Not good enough for my beautiful Samshine I'm afraid," he remarked smirking. "But don't worry. I know just the spot."

Sam pointed at him, not liking that smirk one bit. "We're not going to a sex dungeon or strip club or brothel or wherever else your sex-fueled mind is scheming up. No."

Gabe's bottom lip protruded out again. "You never let me have any fun," he groused before the wide cheeky grin returned. "Don't worry, Sam-ilicious. I would never share you. You're all mine."

"Good." They were dorks but he loved it. "Go on then and snap your fingers."

"So bossy." He licked his lips slowly, clearly undressing the hunter in his mind. "I like."

"Gabriel," he warned, glaring down at the bratty archangel.

"Got it. Commencing Final Operation Moose-nap now." With a snap of his fingers, they were gone from the clearing and into one of the many pocket universes where no lightbulbs would be harmed.

* * *

**A/N: **So, I know we didn't answer the "What's up with Cas this time?", "Redirected prayers", and "Chuck's Meddling". All three are answered in the next fic I'm currently working on entitled, "Here Comes the Reaper." It's going to be fluffy, angsty, and our fav couples will be back so... maybe some smut... maybe. Depends on my fic bunnies. They got rather close this time, but decided to tease more than anything. :) So, to hold you over, enjoy the below teaser that features... Uncle Balthy and Jack. :)

* * *

"What?" he grumped, mildly glaring back.

"I'm glad you're here," Jack declared, beaming at him.

"That makes one of us," he grumbled, walking back towards the table.

"Dad's happy you're here too. He missed you."

Balthazar snorted loudly, rolling his eyes. The brat was worse at telling lies than his brother was. "When? In between his lusting after Dean? I sincerely doubt that."

"Please," Jack pleaded, giving him the somber puppy dog eyes Balthazar loathed the most.

"Fine. You win." He then jerked his head at the kid. "Don't you need to be doing hunting things anyway? Shooting paper while you pretend its people? Sticking your nose in ancient books on ways to kill Moth Men? That sort of thing?"

"No." The Nephilim shrugged. "Plus, I like spending time with you."

Grey eyes instantly darted upwards, cursing his father to the Hell. At least Dean and Castiel had quieted down in his head thankfully. Heaving a heavy sigh, he leaned towards the child and briefly embraced him, patting the top of his head awkwardly.

"And I you, brat," he quietly stated before he pulled back.


End file.
